Leslie Park Playground Improvements

The City is improving the playground in Leslie Park. These improvements are part of an ongoing city-wide program to ensure playgrounds provide safe and accessible fun for many years to come!

  • September 2022: Community engagement (online survey)
  • October 2022 to March 2023: Detailed design and hire a construction team
  • Fall 2023: Construction starts
  • Late Fall/Early Winter 2023: Construction complete, playground reopens

The timeline is subject to change.

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February 2023

Final Playground Design
The final design for the new Leslie Park Playground, which has been refined based on community feedback. It will be Chartreuse, Lavender, Sky Blue & Silver, and include the play features listed further in this section.

The final playground design and layout was determined using feedback from the community. The new playground will be accessible and will include the following features:

  • A swingset with:
    • Two belt swings
    • Two toddler swings
    • One accessible swing
  • One junior play structure for ages 18 months to five years with:
    • One double slide
    • Transfer stations
    • A net climber, a curly climber, and a pod climber
    • A balcony deck
  • One senior play structure for ages five to 12 with:
    • An accessible ramp to two elevated platforms with play components
    • Two tall curved slides
    • One low double slide accessible by ramp, and one low curved slide accessible by ramp
    • Balcony deck with wheel, braille clock panel, talk tubes, telescope panel, and tic-tac-toe panel
    • Climbers: a pod climber, a wavy rug climber, a fan climber, and a curly climber
    • A snake pole
  • Stand-alone tot builders truck: steering wheel, emergency lights and bells, eyeball headlights, mirrors, and a gear shifter
  • Inclusive spinner
  • Stand-alone play panel group for quiet play

October 2022

Online Survey

From August 2 to October 2, 2022, feedback on multiple playground design options was collected in an online survey. The survey was promoted through paid social media ads, outreach to nearby schools, the local Councillor’s office, on-site signage, and on this page. The survey received a total of 320 responses.

The design team will use this feedback to refine a final design. The final design will be available on this page in Fall 2022.

Key Feedback Highlights
  • When asked to rank their playground design preference, respondents ranked Playground Design B highest (85 per cent) followed by Playground Design A (15 per cent).
  • Respondents shared that the three most important features to include in the new playground are:
    • Climbing structures
    • The senior structure
    • The junior structure
  • Respondents shared that the three least important features to include in the new playground are:
    • Play panels
    • Stand-up spinner toys
    • Stand-alone toys (eg. Teeter-totter)
  • If budget permits, the three features respondents would like more of in the improved playground are:
    • Climbing structures
    • Senior play structure
    • Spiral slide
  • For seating around the playground:
    • 77 per cent of respondents like benches
    • 67 per cent of respondents like picnic tables
    • 48 per cent of respondents like seatwalls
  • The preferred colour scheme for the new playground was bright colours, like yellow, orange, and purple (57 per cent) over earthy colours like green, brown, and grey (30 per cent).
  • The preferred ground cover for the playground is Wood chips (52 per cent).
Playground Options

Both designs are accessible, have the same amount of play features and cost the same amount.

Playground Design A
  • A swingset with:
    • Two belt swings
    • One toddler swing
    • One accessible swing
  • A standalone disk swing
  • A combined junior and senior play structure for ages 18 months to 12 years with:
    • One curved senior slide and one senior double slide with a wave
    • One straight junior slide
    • Monkey bar with rings
    • A hammock
    • A wave climber and a rock climber
    • Sail roof
    • Honeycomb game counter
  • Stand-alone play features: a teeter-totter, a spinning chair, and a rocking nest
  • Accessibility features: transfer stations and an accessible ramp to elevated play features
  • A senior stand-alone climbing structure with two climbing walls and climbing handles
  • Play panels: thee-in-a-row game panels, sign language panels, explorer panel, find the pair pollination panel
Playground Design B

A rendering of playground Design B for Leslie Park Playground improvements, aerial view looking to the southwest from the northeast. From left to the right, it includes an inclusive group spinner, senior play structure accessible by ramp, junior play structure, play panels and swingset.

Design B includes:

  • A swingset with:
    • Two belt swings
    • Two toddler swings
    • One accessible swing
  • One junior play structure for ages 18 months to five years with:
    • One double slide
    • Transfer stations
    • A net climber, a curly climber, and a pod climber
    • A balcony deck
  • One senior play structure for ages five to 12 with:
    • An accessible ramp to two elevated platforms with play components
    • Two tall curved slides
    • One low double slide accessible by ramp, and one low curved slide accessible by ramp
    • Balcony deck with wheel, braille clock panel, talk tubes, telescope panel, and tic-tac-toe panel
    • Climbers: a pod climber, a wavy rug climber, a fan climber, and a curly climber
    • A snake pole
  • Stand-alone play features: games table, teeter-totter, and rocking chairs
  • Stand-alone tot builders truck: steering wheel, emergency lights and bells, eyeball headlights, mirrors, and a gear shifter
  • Stand-alone tot builder sensory garden wall: rope slider, peek-a-boo opening, and garden features
  • Inclusive spinner
  • Stand-alone play panel group for quiet play

Leslie Park Playground is located at Leslie Avenue and Van Horne Drive, on the north side of Leslie Park.

The playground currently includes:

  • Two swing sets
  • A junior play structure for ages eighteen months to five years
  • A senior play structure for ages five and up
  • Standalone climbing and rocking features
  • Sand under all play areas

The playground will be redesigned using feedback from the community. The redesigned playground is proposed to include:

  • Playground equipment for ages eighteen months to 12 years
  • Additional seating
  • Engineered wood fibre playground surfacing
  • Accessible play equipment and an accessible pathway connecting to the playground area. This means that people of all abilities will be able to play at this playground.

The playground location will be determined using community feedback. Improvements will only be made in the general playground area and will not include any new water or lighting features. Other areas of the park, including the existing pathways, will not be improved as part of this project.