Endless Perceptions of Lloyd A. Green: Playground Stitches

Back in the early 1950s, when Foster Houses were first built, the countless playgrounds throughout the complex could not be missed. My childhood friends and I would loose our minds jumping around all the different apparatus available and our imaginations soared as we made up stories as we played. During our childish travels we were never concerned of how dangerous our newly built surroundings might be. It appears safety concerns are now paramount in creating playgrounds but that wasn't always the case.

Photo: October 2017

The largest playground in the complex was one that we all called 'The Big Park.' Presently, it's called the Martin Luther King Jr. Playground. Its borders are Lenox Avenue (Malcolm X Blvd.), 70 Lenox Avenue, 41 West 112th Street and 70 West 115th Street. Besides a spacious area to run and play, there were four handball courts, two full sized basketball courts, a sandbox, a large and small sliding board, children's swings, see-saws, adult swings and an enclosed sprinkler wading pool.

Drawing by Lloyd A. Green

I still have fond memories from the fifties and sixties of fun during hot summer days. In particular, I think of that huge rectangular wading pool that had multiple sprinklers. It was placed in north-east corner of the playground. All us crazy kids had lots of fun running wild through the controlled showers back then.

Sprinkler in Carroll Park 1960s

Unfortunately, by today's standards, that pool would have been closed. The entire thing was made out of concrete. All you had to do was fall and you could not avoid getting a bad scrape or worst. These types of injuries would happen often. Close by adults would scream, “Stop running, stop running,” but how could they expect kids to be careful. Hot weather and cold water had been mixed together. Half the fun was learning the hard way.

Speaking of pain, do you know why it was not a good idea to place your precious child into the uplifting metal child swing on a hot summer day? All that baked-in heat on the metal surfaces of the swing could easily give your child a first degree burn. The same can be said of the metal seat of the adult swing and the long metal sliding boards. I remember the times I anxiously climbed the steps to slide down but after touching the hot metal, I almost changed my mind. After sliding down, I jumped off as fast as I could. I didn't go back on the slide because I wanted to keep playing and not seek first-aid for burns.

(BTW - the child swings shown below are exactly the same type as one that used to be found in 'The Big Park'). The sliding board is similar.

Riding the swings at Oval Park. Photo: John Kachejian 1961

Photo: 1965

Please explain to me the rationale behind using a building material like concrete for kids to play on. Wouldn't that be considered dangerous? Oh yeah, concrete blocks could last for a life-time. The playground apparatus were made to be durable so that they would endure long after the kids were gone. In other words, children were considered secondary in this formula.

Which reminds me. Throughout the other playgrounds in the complex, there were these rectangular platforms that looked like three-step pyramids but were flat on the top. Of course, all of these "objects" were also made of concrete.

Concrete 3-step pyramid & barrels (west side of 70 Lenox Ave.) Photo: 1993

When I about eight years old, my older brother and I were having a great time, jumping around on this insanely durable pyramid. Then while we were playing tag, he had to go and slip and then fall chin-first. At first, I couldn't understand why he stood up crying and screaming bloody murder. Then I noticed that he was bleeding like a pig from under his chin and adding new color textures to the worn stone slab. We had to go to the emergency room so he could get about ten stitches. Talk about a ten-year old screaming his brains out. I watched in horror as others helped to hold him down so he could get this minor surgery. This was not a fun day for me or him.

Of course, none of this stopped us from returning to the playgrounds. The seven-foot tall cube made of steel pipes was one of my favorites. We called it the Monkey Bars. Unlike the photo shown below, there wasn't any soft surface underneath. The fun was worming yourself through the geometric shape, hanging from different heights, finding your way to the top, looking down at the rest of the playground and feeling thankful that you didn't fall on the way up. I never saw anyone fall off but I'm sure there were those that were a lot more daring than I was. The playgrounds that held this jungle gym were open day and night, which meant there was ample opportunity to get hurt.

The first jungle gym, at the Winnetka Historical Society. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

My real point in reminiscing about all this is, a lot of that fun has been lost for a little thing like child safety. Don’t today’s adults realize that all the rubber matting that's placed under every fun obstacle protects children from getting hurt but it does nothing to build character. The scars we used to get during childhood, helped us to grow up faster, a little crooked maybe, but we grew up, regardless. At least I did.