For a long time now, I've been hounding the city to change the basketball configuration at Magruder Park. Whenever I am down at the court, there are always players waiting around the edges hoping one of the two small half courts open up to play. We have ample space to do so much better.

Well designed basketball courts typically have one full court and then 4 hoops surrounding it. This can accommodate 6 half-court games, 2 small side games and 2 half court games or one full court game.

Living near the middle school, there are often complaints about wandering bored teens after school. One of the best ways we can combat the boredom is by offering really nice recreation facilities. Not only does this give teenagers something fun and healthy to do, it makes them tired! Please fix this problem. It really would require minimal investment and have a great return to our community. Even if there are greater plans in the works, this is something that could be done relatively quickly and easily until the bigger project comes to fruition.

Thanks, Julia Crooks (Ward 2)

Hamilton Pool: Currently, the pool is great but often overcrowded! The hours don’t work well for toddlers who nap in the afternoon or working parents. I would request a spray pad be added with expanded hours, as well as lap lanes and time for adults to use the pool for exercise. Playground: The playground desperately needs updated equipment. My dream would be something as fun and wonderful as the Watkins Wizard of Oz playground. Having equipment that is accessible for children with special needs, for small toddlers and older school aged children would be great! Also, more shaded areas! Picnic area: More shaded, attractive areas for families to picnic Inside space: It would be great to have some sort of covered, possibly inside play space for rainy days. Maybe climbing walls, places to play bocce or 4 square, inside mini golf? This would be so great, and ideally there could be a space for younger children as well as school aged children. I know I’d love somewhere to bring my 3 year old to get her out of the house. We should ask older elementary school aged kids and middle school aged kids what kinds of things they’d like to see in an indoor space. Also—cleaner bathrooms! Some sort of amphitheater for summer plays or concerts!

All of what Kristen said!

Yes, I agree with Kristen's comments too, and especially wanted to highlight cleaner bathrooms and shady trees along the paths and at the playground.

If we're really talking about a wish list, I'd love a little nature center! Probably impossible but it would be great.

Updated play equipment would be great with an integrated spray ground (similar to neighboring Turkey Thicket in Brookland). And YES to cleaner bathrooms!

Add a fenced in dog area to Magruder park. I suggest keeping it close to the entrance so people walking their dogs in the neighborhood can easily access the dog area without walking past the rec center, playground, etc.

I agree that a nature center would be great.

I would love a bocce/petanque court! Garfield Park in DC has two great bocce courts - they are small and relatively cheap to install, just some wood and gravel on a level surface.

Garfield Park in DC also has a great playground with a rope tower, hammock swing, and spinning tower. I would love to see Magruder Park have more kinetic, flexible playground equipment like that. I think it would be really cool if the side of the building facing the playground had a sign listing group play ideas - different types of tag/hide and go seek/pretend play, to encourage dramatic, active play.

The older playground area on the west side of the park near the pool could be converted into an exercise area with some simple fixed equipment (pull-up bar, push up bars, sit-up bench) and some simple exercise instruction signs, maybe even a weather-proofed flipbook with sample workouts for different fitness levels.

A lot of people walk and run on the "loop" in the park. I'd love to see the loop painted with distance markers (100 m, 200 m, etc.).

The park needs public-use soccer goals and a designated open-use field area! There are frequent pick-up games in the park, which I think are an important community-building asset - people speaking different languages all playing together. There needs to be an area of the fields set aside for open pick-up game use. Right now, it's all "permit-only."

I wish that we could turn the WSSC parking lot into a duckpond.

I know the city has recently made improvements in the recreation center but it is small and limited. I think the city should work to develop a new recreation center - like the one in Greenbelt with an indoor pool, space for athletic classes and events. I realize this would cost money but how about getting with Park and Planning and combining the PP swimming pool and expanding it into a really useable recreation center.

I'd love to see more lighting - particularly along the path from the park to the Tributary trail. I also would like to see the "loop" extended - perhaps around the baseball field to become a figure 8 or something like that. I agree that signage (distance, etc.) would be a great addition as well.