South End Community Center (SECC), Evanston’s fifth and newest community center, is open for business, and some of that business is “child’s play.”
In addition to hosting meetings, programs, private events and (temporarily) the Evanston Ecology Center, the SECC has something special and magical: a large, colorful drop-in play area for small children to enjoy. In “Let’s Play,” the City of Evanston invites children ages 1-5 to toddle, scoot, climb or crawl about, move things from place to place and engage in creative play in eight colorful play areas.
Although SECC had a summer open house and a “soft opening” on July 15, many are not yet aware of this family-friendly, ADA-compliant and fanciful indoor play space. When Evanston bought the popular Little Beans Cafe to update and upgrade it to a community center, the city did so with the expectation that the space would provide a new revenue source for the city’s general revenue fund. While much is still in the works, the Let’s Play area is already attracting families, caregivers, daycare providers and preschools for regular visits.
Let’s Play is a child’s wonderland. As their adult companions watch from the sidelines and spring into action as needed, intrepid little ones, with shoes off, wander in and out of the play structures. They may be found scooting or crawling through a wiggly tunnel, sliding down short or winding slides, traveling through a rainbow-ribboned car wash in their foot-powered vehicle, tending a barbecue, washing and putting away dishes in a play kitchen or filling shopping carts, to name only a few of the child-sized fantasy options…