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Sienna Shugars, 8, of Rochester Hills, and Isabella Sanchez, 11, of Macomb Township, have fun on the swings at Wabash Park playground.
Photo by Erin Sanchez
ROCHESTER HILLS — Families and friends have a new neighborhood playground to explore in Rochester Hills.
The 3.7-acre Wabash Park — at 100 Wabash Road, west of Rochester Road and north of Auburn Road — has been completely redesigned with new play equipment and a whole new look.
Rochester Hills Director of Parks and Forestry Ken Elwert said the park was home to “the city’s oldest playground.”
“That was the first park that we put in that hasn’t been redone, so it was time,” he said.
The previous park featured a big purple slide and various purple features and was affectionately known as “Purple Park” to those who lived around it.
“People have expressed some dismay about removing the purple slide, because it used to be ‘the Purple Park,’ but they are all in on ‘the green park’ because the playground is all green now,” Elwert said.
Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said Wabash Park has been a special neighborhood park for many years.
“We knew we needed to freshen it up and bring it up to the level and expectations of our other Rochester Hills parks. We found the coolest playground pieces we could find and added a bunch of new fun features — and even though we couldn’t find them in purple, we planted a special tree that blooms purple every year as a reminder of just how special this park has always been.”
The new space features all-new play equipment to appeal to more age groups — ages 2-12 — new “mommy and me” type swings, artificial turf surfacing, fencing around the perimeter of the playground area and improved accessibility of the site overall. The park is also home to the city’s community garden.
“It took almost nine months to get in,” Elwert said. “The neighbors really like it. They like going here because it’s not as crowded as, perhaps, Innovation Hills. It’s a much smaller playground than Innovation Hills, but it has some nice pieces and some separation between the older and the younger play areas.”
The playground cost around $400,000, and Elwert said a significant portion of it was funded through the parks capital millage that voters approved several years ago.
“People seem to really like it,” Elwert said.
Wabash Park, 100 Wabash Road, is open 8 a.m.-dusk daily. For more information, visit www.rochesterhills.org.
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