Oakwood Park (Durham)

What it is:  So, we had never stopped by Oakwood Park, a little park on a corner by the Main Library in downtown.  There wasn't much playground equipment, and not a whole lot to do.  However, last weekend, Kaboom was funded by Disney and ABC 11 to completely re-do the park in one weekend!  Now, it is a great stop for kiddos to play.  As we said, it's located just behind the Main Library parking lot downtown, so it would be great to combine with a storytime or just a stop to check out some books.  When we went, we parked at the library and walked on over.

Once we got there, we saw a bunch of new wooden benches and tables complete with checkerboards.  There's a great shelter with tons of beautiful birdhouses hanging from the ceiling.  Looks like the shelter would be a great place for a picnic table, but there wasn't one there yet.  There was also what looked like a stage area near the entrance where kids could express their dramatic side.

My kids went immediately to the play structures.  There was a small bulldozer structure with a slide for smaller kids and a large one with monkey bars, slides, and all sorts of places to climb.  There was also a tire swing, and some really interesting spinning platforms and bowls for making you or your kiddos as dizzy as possible.  There were also some big beautiful trees, and my boys spent quite a while under the trees searching for as many acorns as they could find.

What we liked: We love that Kaboom took a little used park and turned it into a park that will be a great resource for the surrounding community and Durham as a whole.  The play structure was interesting and different, and of course, all of the equipment was new and shiny.

What we would change:  Parking was not entirely clear.  We parked just a short walk down the street at the library parking lot, but it looks like you could also park on Oakwood Street just next to the park.  Plus, while there were some really nice families that walked through the neighborhood while we were there that we had a great time chatting with, there were also some people that stopped on a park bench to share an adult beverage.  They didn't bother us, but it wasn't the most kid-friendly behavior ever.  With some friends, I would feel comfortable going to the park again.  Plus, I feel that since the park has been renovated, it will start to attract more of the kid-friendly crowd and less of the other.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.durhamnc.gov/gis_apps/parkapp/park.cfm?ParkNam=Oakwood+Park&selVal=park

*Pics on website are pre-renovation.

Address: 411 Holloway St, Durham 27701

Photos: 

(big play structure)

(the small bulldozer)

(more climbing)

(the tire swing)

(trying my feet on one of the spinners)

(one of the big beautiful trees)

(the birdhouses)

(stage area-sort-of)

(checkers tables)

(a view of the park as we walked up)