This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Young Life in an Old Town: Helen Miller/Bernard Hunter Park

This park at 224 North Fayette Street is well-equipped for toddlers and older children.

One day while waiting for Pink and Brown to open Sophia and I discovered the Helen Miller/Bernard Hunter Park and playground.

It’s one of Alexandria’s newest playgrounds and this is evident in the squashy surface (no sign of mulch – hurray!), and shiny new equipment.

There has been quite a bit of development in this area of Old Town –relatively new townhouses are just down the block from this park and on a recent visit, I was glad to see that Café Nicole (right across the street and also new in the last few years) seems to be doing well.  This is small playground, but well equipped for both toddlers and older children.

Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Location: Just a few blocks north of King Street, the playground is within walking distance to Pink and Brown children’s boutique, Alexandria Shoe and Leather service, fibre space, and Five Guys hamburgers. Walk a few more blocks west on King and you will arrive at Hooray for Books!. You could make a nice little morning of shopping and dining (and get your shoes fixed) on this block of Old Town!

Equipment: There are four swings here: two bucket swings and two for “big kids.” Strangely the swings are on opposite sides of the park so you won’t be able to push your baby in the bucket swing and push an older child at the same time. Sophia is a big fan of the big kid swings here because they are low to the ground which means she can hop on all by herself (these three words are huge in our house right now).

Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She also enjoys the newfangled see-saw. It's a modern looking apparatus that kind of bounces in the air rather than slamming down onto the ground. Also noteworthy is the “spinning doughnut”: a round, moving balance beam of sorts for older kids. I’ve also seen little kids lie down and hold on for dear life as their parent spins them around on this piece of equipment.

If you have a child who likes to get dizzy, there’s more rotating fun in the form of a little platform with a vertical bar that the child holds onto while she spins around standing up. In addition there’s the usual large playground structure with three slides and plenty of things to climb. This particular structure gets bonus points for the toddler area built underneath the main structure designed for hands on pretend play. It’s really cute!

Shade? Yes, but not a lot.  The big kid swings are somewhat shady and there are trees over a small grassy patch just large enough to throw a ball back and forth.

For Adults: Two regular benches and a cement bench along the side of the main playground area.

Fenced? Yes

Bathrooms? No. Your best bet is probably Café Nicole across the street.

Miscellaneous: There is a basketball court adjacent to the playground if you are feeling sporty. It has a separate entrance and is also fenced. I haven’t been there during the evening but the Parks and Recreation website says that the court has lights for evening play and that there is league play there during the summer months.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?