East Somerville gets new playground that isn't like all the other playgrounds

Big slide. Photo by Rob Bellinger.

Greg Cook explains what makes Chuckie Harris Park, which opened yesterday, different:

By building the slides into the hills at Harris Park, GroundView makes them handicapped accessible. And climbing back to the top of the slide is made into an adventure by asking children to scale the hill with climbing grips or aided by rope. To welcome a variety of ages, two of the park's four swings are set about a foot and a half higher than usual, Dutcher says, to better fit teens and adults. (The big slide is similarly accommodating to larger bodies.) A toddler area offers a third slide, springy cars and a shelter.