LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA – Lafayette’s downtown is amazing in many ways. We’ve got great restaurants (Sideboard, Social Bird, and new spots like Abe’s and Breakfast club), unique shopping, and much else.
But when it comes to kid-friendly parks, Lafayette’s downtown is somewhat lacking. You need to drive across town to the Community Center–or over to Moraga–to find great spots to run around with kids.
Plaza Park is nice. But it’s a better spot for a picnic or a brief stop than a true play space for little ones.
A local nonprofit hopes to fix that. In addition to working towards more parks in downtown Lafayette, they’re now taking direct action to create new play spaces downtown.
All Ages Recreation Downtown (AARD), a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on expanding all-ages and all-abilities recreation in and around downtown, is opening a brand new All Ages Recreation Den at 3561-A Mt. Diablo Blvd.
I asked Grace Dixon, one of the people behind the new project, about plans for the Recreation Den.
There’s a grand opening and ribbon cutting scheduled for Tuesday, March 10 at 4:00 pm. Dixon told me that would be the Den’s first day in operation.
There will be treats from El Jarro, Lafayette Scoop, Sideboard, Butter & Batter and more.
AARD has built its reputation locally around low-barrier play–casual play that’s intended to draw families in and make it easy for kids to enjoy themselves in the city.
On its site, the group describes bringing activities like ping pong, badminton, giant Jenga, giant Connect Four, chess, kinetic sand, trains/cars tables, Magna Tiles, crafts, and more to events and pop-ups.
The Recreation Den will give a more permanent, brick and mortar location for these sorts of kid-friendly activities, right in the heart of downtown. For a landmark, it’s next to El Jarro.
Dixon told me “Weekdays will have hours dedicated to age groups. Weekends will be multigenerational play.”
You won’t need reservations to attend. If it gets very busy, there may be reservations in the future.
Here’s the kicker: it’s free!
“There will be a donation kiosk for a suggested optional donation to help us manage the costs of the downtown indoor location,” Dixon told me.
Again, dedicated indoor “third spaces” for casual play can be hard to come by here in Lafayette– especially ones designed to welcome a wide age range without requiring a class schedule or a sports-league commitment. So it’s great to see this coming to town.
“We are still firming up the calendar. More soon!” Dixon wrote to me. We’ll continue to follow the story and update you when we know more. Make sure to join our free 925 News newsletter so we can share some photos when the new space opens and we stop in to check it out!
