Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse

Last updated
Smith Memorial Playhouse
Phila SmithPlaygroundl12.JPG
Smith Playhouse
Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 39°58′54″N75°11′44″W / 39.98167°N 75.19556°W / 39.98167; -75.19556
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Smith Memorial Playhouse in Pennsylvania
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse (the United States)

Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse is a free young children's playground near North 33rd Street and Oxford Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, within the borders of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1] Philadelphia magazine awarded it Best Playground of Philly in 2006 and 2008, calling it "a city treasure." [2] The playground was highlighted during a May 2024 episode of the Abbott Elementary television show. [3]

Contents

Renovations

Established in 1899 by the wills of Richard and Sarah Smith and designed by architect James H. Windrim, it occupies nearly 612 acres, [4] and is visited by more than 1000 children per day. [5] From 2003 to 2005, the playground was closed while a citizen's non-profit group began a rejuvenation of its play equipment and landscape, as well as a renovation of its 24,000 sq ft (2,200 m2) Playhouse for very young children. The Playhouse underwent an extensive renovation in 2021 to offer additional unique indoor play spaces. [6]

Playhouse

The playhouse is for children 5 and under, with any baby who can play welcome, but accompanied by at least one adult 18 or older.

Playground

Smith Playground Phila SmithPlaygroundl20.JPG
Smith Playground

In July 2005, the Ann Newman Giant Wooden Slide was reopened, [7] and in August 2006 a new complex of swings called "Swing City" was opened. [8] By 2009, an area about three football fields in size had been redone, and the outside of the Playhouse preserved. [9] On July 31, 2019, a statue inspired by Ora Washington, titled "MVP", was added to the playground. [10] The Giant Slide is 40 feet (12 m) long, 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, 10 feet (3.0 m) high, and 12 children can use it at once. [4] The playground is for children 10 and under, accompanied by at least one adult 18 or older. There is a special play area for very young children.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairmount Park</span> United States historic place

Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with the two sections together totalling 2,052 acres (830 ha). Management of Fairmount Park and the entire citywide park system is overseen by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, a city department created in 2010 from the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comcast Center</span> Skyscraper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Comcast Center, also known as the Comcast Tower, is a skyscraper in Center City Philadelphia. The 58-story, 297-meter (974 ft) tower is the second-tallest building in Philadelphia and in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, and the 31st-tallest building in the United States. Originally called One Pennsylvania Plaza when plans for the building were announced in 2001, the Comcast Center went through two redesigns before construction began in 2005. Comcast Center was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects for Liberty Property Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Square (Philadelphia)</span> United States historic place

Franklin Square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn when he laid out the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1682. It is located in the Center City area, between North 6th and 7th streets, and between Race Street and the Vine Street Expressway (I-676).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Playground slide</span> Slides for children to play on in playgrounds

Playground slides are found in parks, schools, playgrounds and backyards. The slide is an example of the simple machine known as the inclined plane, which makes moving objects up and down easier, or in this case more fun. The slide may be flat, or half cylindrical or tubular to prevent falls. Slides are usually constructed of plastic or metal and they have a smooth surface that is either straight or wavy. The user, typically a child, climbs to the top of the slide via a ladder or stairs and sits down on the top of the slide and slides down the chute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drexel Station at 30th Street</span> Rapid transit station in Philadelphia

Drexel Station at 30th Street is an underground SEPTA Metro station in Philadelphia. It is located on Market Street between 30th and 31st Streets in the University City neighborhood, adjacent to 30th Street Station and Drexel University. The station features four tracks – the inner pair serving the L and the outer pair for the T.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre Square (building)</span> Office complex in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Centre Square is an office complex in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The complex consists of two concrete high-rise towers: the 417 feet (127 m) Centre Square I, also known as Centre Square East, and the 490 feet (150 m) Centre Square II represent the 24th and 15th-tallest buildings in Philadelphia, respectively. Designed by Vincent Kling & Associates in the 1960s, Centre Square opened in 1973. The complex is credited with shifting Philadelphia's downtown office district from South Broad Street to West Market Street. A tenant since 1975, management consulting firm Willis Towers Watson is Centre Square's largest tenant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Hall (Philadelphia)</span> United States historic place

Memorial Hall is a Beaux-Arts style building which is located in the Centennial District of West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built as the art gallery for the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it is the only major structure from that exhibition to survive. It subsequently housed the Pennsylvania Museum of Industrial Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton (Philadelphia)</span> Luxury residential skyscraper in Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton is a luxury residential skyscraper in Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At 518 feet (158 m), the 48-story skyscraper is the 12th-tallest building in Philadelphia, and the tallest residential tower in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murano (skyscraper)</span> Residential skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia

The Murano is a residential skyscraper in Center City Philadelphia. Part of a condominium boom occurring in the city, the Murano was announced in 2005 and was developed jointly by Thomas Properties Group and P&A Associates. The building, named after Murano, Italy, was completed in 2008 at a cost of US$165 million. The site, previously occupied by a parking lot, was the location of the Erlanger Theatre from 1927 to 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Please Touch Museum</span> Childrens museum in Pennsylvania

The Please Touch Museum is a children's museum located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The museum focuses on teaching children through interactive exhibits and special events, mostly aimed at children seven years old and younger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wissahickon, Philadelphia</span> Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States

Wissahickon is a neighborhood in the section of Lower Northwest Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Wissahickon is located adjacent to the neighborhoods of Roxborough and Manayunk, and it is bounded by the Wissahickon Valley Park, Ridge Avenue, Hermit Street, and Henry Avenue. The name of the neighborhood is derived from the Lenni Lenape word wisameckham, for "catfish creek", a reference to the fish that were once plentiful in the Wissahickon Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Alexander</span> Residential in Pennsylvania, United States

The Alexander is a mixed-use high-rise in Philadelphia. The building is adjacent to the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple, which was designed by Perkins+Will. This project consists of one tower, as well as a Mormon meetinghouse next to the building, which will be clad in red brick.

The P.R.R. YMCA Athletic Field, also known as Penmar Park and commonly referred to in the 1930s and 1940s as the 44th and Parkside ballpark, was an athletic field and ballpark in West Philadelphia from as early as the 1890s to the early 1950s. It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad YMCA for use by its employees. Behind the right-field fence stood the roundhouse of the main yard of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Negro league baseball Philadelphia Stars played home games at the park from 1936 until 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James H. Windrim</span> American architect

James Hamilton Windrim was a Philadelphia architect who specialized in public buildings, including the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia and the U.S. Treasury. A number the buildings he designed are on the National Historic Landmarks and/or the National Register of Historic Places, including the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia and the National Savings and Trust Company building in Washington, DC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith Memorial Arch</span> Memorial arch in Pennsylvania, U.S.

Smith Memorial Arch is an American Civil War monument at South Concourse and Lansdowne Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built on the former grounds of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it serves as a gateway to West Fairmount Park. The Memorial consists of two colossal columns supported by curving, neo-Baroque arches, and adorned with 13 individual portrait sculptures ; two eagles standing on globes; and architectural reliefs of eight allegorical figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">30th Street Station</span> Railway station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

30th Street Station, officially William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, is a major intermodal transit station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is metropolitan Philadelphia's main railroad station and a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone corridors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Bank of North Philadelphia</span> United States historic place

National Bank of North Philadelphia,, is a historic bank building located in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The original section was built in 1926, and is a 10- to 11-story, limestone, brick and terra cotta building in the Art Deco style. It is topped by a three-story penthouse with a pyramidal roof.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inga Saffron</span> American journalist and architecture critic

Inga Saffron is an American journalist and architecture critic. She won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism while writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inquirer Building</span> United States historic place

The Inquirer Building, formerly called the Elverson Building, is an eighteen-story building at the intersection of North Broad and Callowhill Streets in the Logan Square neighborhood of Center City Philadelphia, completed in 1924 as the new home for The Philadelphia Inquirer, a daily newspaper in the city, that was joined by the Philadelphia Daily News in 1957.

References

  1. Treacy, Michelle S. (6 July 2009). "Free play at Smith Playhouse". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2009-11-15.[ dead link ]
  2. "Best of Philly 2008: Playground". Phillymag. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  3. Dobrin, Peter. "'Abbott Elementary' takes a field trip to what might be Philly's best-kept secret". www.inquirer.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse". Fodor's. Random House, Inc. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  5. Anderson, Kelli (January 2007). "Passing the Test of Time: Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse in Philadelphia". Recreation Management. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  6. Saffron, Inga. "Newly renovated Fairmount Park playhouse offers kids serious fun as an antidote to screen time | Inga Saffron". inquirer.com. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
  7. Salisbury, Stephan (14 July 2005). "Historic slide reopens today with new generation of rides". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  8. "Smith Memorial Playground". The Philadelphia Inquirer. August 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2010.[ dead link ]
  9. Mostovy-Eisenberg, Michelle (10 January 2008). "Playground Still Flourishes as a 'Safe Haven' for Urban Kids". Jewish Exponent. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  10. "One-of-a-kind statue unveiled at Smith Playground in South Philly". Whyy.org. Retrieved 5 August 2019.