Dee Park & Recreation Center

We unofficially nicknamed this place «Dirtface Park» but it’s really a great playground, nestled in the midst of the rows of shabby apartment buildings by Dee Road and Emerson (north of Ballard & just south of Golf) in unincorporated Maine Township. It’s just a few minutes from Golf-​Mill but not well-​known except to the locals.
This is probably the most ethnically diverse park in my area, with lots of Indian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Eastern European kids from the area. Best of all, it has the one of the most elaborate playground setups I’ve seen in the NW burbs.
So why the name? Well, when my 3-​year old went to this park last year, he played and loved it for only a few minutes before he fell off a plaform and landed in a mound of wood chips. Dirt and tears smeared his face and itty-​bitty woodchips went into his nose and mouth. The sad sight he was, we rushed him home to comfort him and give him a bath. He refused to play there again and we avoided it for a year, while it earned the name of «Dirtface Park». After a 1-​year hiatus, I took him back a few weeks ago and he just got out of the car, tripped on the pavement and hurt his knee before ever reaching the park! Is it cursed? After that fall, he vowed «Never again!» to go back to this park, ever… Well, maybe not.
The park is safe in my opinion and my son was a victim of unusual bad luck here. We took him back this past weekend and he got to play for a long time without any tragic injury or a faceful of dirt. My 1-​year old crawled around and loved it too. The playground has a short tunnel made of coated wire mesh that looks like a cage and makes for great fun.
It also has a series of square stepping blocks for climbing up to the slide, almost reminiscent of the old Qbert video game. I have not seen that done anywhere else.
Besides the playground, there’s tennis courts, and 2 sand volleyball courts which double as a giant sandbox when not in use. Lots of trees and shade around the play area to sit while you watch the kids playing.