Equipment by Henderson, Kompan, Berliner Seilfabrik
Surface: rubber
Norwood Park is part of an impressive but underrated cluster of playgrounds near the Woodbine-to-Main stretch of Danforth. Put Norwood in the centre of a circle with an 800-metre radius and you’ll find it surrounded by seven other parks: East Lynn, Wildwood, Oakcrest, Stephenson, Cassels, Ed McCleverty, and Stanley G. Grizzle. None of these are mind-blowing, but the quality is solid and each has its own appeal.
For its part, Norwood is a quiet spot with big trees, public tennis courts, a dog park, and a playground that was re-done in 2022. Several of its entrances come at the end of dead-end streets, a feature that I like a lot but can’t explain why.
The new equipment stands out from the lush green of the park by being emphatically on the red/orange/yellow end of the colour spectrum. The two main structures, one junior and one senior, are perhaps a bit underwhelming, but good enough. A big lovely rope climber by Berliner Seilfabrik is likely to be the highlight, but if your kids are too small for that, they’ll still enjoy the sandbox, swings, and tactile panels.
One strange decision with the sandbox; it has two shades that are slightly offset, such that no more than about 40% of the sandbox is ever shaded. There must be a reason for this, but I can’t figure it out.
This little east Danforth group of playgrounds is really great, and must be a huge plus for families in the area. Although we've visited them all over the past five years, I never recognized them as a cluster, and I’m not sure why…although it might be that because the GO train tracks run through the neighbourhood, there’s the illusion that the parks north of the tracks are farther away from their southern siblings than they actually are.
Anyway, the point is: get yourself out to this area over the summer.
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