This is my absolute most favorite park for children in Washington DC.
Ft. Lincoln Park (not to be confused with Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill) takes me back in time to my own childhood, before all the overprotection and padding of our current generation of kids. Here my boys (6 and 3) can challenge themselves and play with some "risk". The brick pyramid fort and the scrambling hill with concrete slides (oh how '70's) are the bomb. When we arrive, parking along Ft. Lincoln Drive or in the tennis court parking lot, we simply let them loose and don't bother them again for the next hour or so. We can leisurely walk under the beautiful Honey Locust trees and enjoy the amazing sunsets. There are benches on the grass and under the 5 open air structures, all with amazing trees.
Bear in mind that the park was built in 1969 and clearly shows some wear. The trees have pushed up the bricks in many places, and the city has only maintained the landscaping at a minimum, but nevertheless this park has excellent character.
If you are a overly protective helicopter parent (I know, you tell yourself you're not), then you will not like this place. Here kids can get scraped knees, fall down off brick structures, and rip up good clothes on the old concrete slides. BUT... if you are a parent that believes in challenging your children, and you have confidence in their ability to learn from navigating "risks" then this is a terrific place to bring the kids.
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I'm including a link to this audio article with the idea that this park is a gem of times gone past.
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/20/291922339/kids-these-days-growing-up-too-fast-or-never-at-all
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Lastly, I want to make a prediction. To tell you the truth, Ft. Lincoln Park is nearly always quiet and deserted. I am forever wondering where are all the 5 million people in the DC metro area? I somewhat avoided writing this review for fear that I would open the floodgates, only to turn around and find the park filled with people clamoring to the city about the "dangers" of loose bricks and lack of rubber padding under all the stone and concrete play-spaces. THEN, after DC Government receives all these complaints about the park from the legions of overprotective parents, they will be forced to come in and destroy this historic space in favor of plastic slides and "protected" play areas. Let alone the loss of the beautiful old brick walkways to new "pavers' etc.
I really do understand that if many people start frequenting the park, that improvements will need to be made. The question is, should the park be "restored" or "updated"?
SO - I make you this appeal. Once you visit the park, ask yourself questions about what is best here. When we bring Ft. Lincoln Park into the 21st Century, should we "modernize" it to our current sensibilities, or "restore" it so we might learn something from this late 20th century experiment.
SAVE FORT LINCOLN PARK!
http://tclf.org/landscapes/fort-lincoln-park
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