Cynthia Lai Park

Equipment by Little Tikes.

Surface: wood chips.

There’s an office building in Scarborough that for some reason has established itself in my mind as a visual landmark when coming into the city along the 401 from the east. It acts as a sign to let me know I’m almost home.

It’s not the distant CN Tower, or the cluster of buildings around Scraborough Town Centre, or the literal sign by the Rouge that announces the city’s current population. I’m talking about the office building at 325 Milner Avenue.

The building was completed in 1990 and really looks the part: not modern, but not old either. It’s exactly what you’d imagine a corporate headquarters would look like in 1990. Initially, the tower was topped with a Yellow Pages logo (what could be more pre-internet age than an office tower built on phone book money?) but that logo has now disappeared, leaving the building somewhat crownless.

With its brown-tinted glass and early-90s cathedral aesthetic, this building always stands out to me. It’s partially because there are no other tall buildings around it, and partially because the jog in the 401 as you approach it gives a strange optical illusion: when you spot it, you’d swear you’re going to pass it to your left. Moments later when you actually pass it, it’s on your right.

Anyway: my apologies for the lengthy, recipe blogger-style pre-amble. Let’s get to the reason we’re here.

325 Milner now dominates the southern view from Cynthia Lai Park, a newly re-named and newly renovated playground that features some nice equipment, lots of green space, a basketball court, and a library at the park’s north end.

The main play structure is the same model you’ll find at Fundy Bay Park, and it’s such a good one I’m surprised it’s not more common.

Access to the climber is by way of an internal spiral staircase, or a variety of ladders around the perimeter. This allows for kids of different sizes and levels of confidence to get up to the top. From there, they can descent by way of a partial tube slide, or a surprisingly steep uncovered slide…or back down the stairs if they change their mind.

My favourite feature on the main climber is a hidden set of monkey bars. It’s a clever way to pack one more element into a relatively small footprint. See if your kid can find them.

There’s also a junior climber connected to a swaying boat feature, along with several swings of different types. Overall, this modestly-sized playground provides a nice variety of options.

At peak times this place gets extremely busy- so much so that when we visited I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures, so I returned another day in the early morning, before anyone was around. Taking photos of the structure, I suddenly realized that my love for the main climber might have something to do with its shape, which is – if you use your imagination just a little – pretty similar to the shape of the office building at 325 Milner that I have an inexplicable admiration for.

In a different timeline, maybe Yellow Pages foresees the internet era, pivots, and becomes a search engine giant. And then this playground becomes their contribution to the neighbourhood, complete with a scale replica of the office building, the centrepiece of a phone-book-themed playground.

But alas, we live in this timeline, so the current playground will have to do.