arlington hills community center

A couple years ago, the city of St. Paul started a new building construction on the corner of an extremely busy intersection. When I found out it was going to be a community center, I was ecstatic (my husband got to listen to my spiel on how efficacious this resource was going to be for the surrounding neighborhoods).

While I've been eager to visit the Arlington Hills Community Center (AHCC; 1200 Payne Ave, St Paul) since the bricks were first laid, I finally had the chance to stop by today with my kids.

Here's what you need to know:
Parking: Lot with chargers for battery-run cars
Age range (playground): 1+
Sidewalks: Well and amply paved to both the community center and playground
Seating: A couple of benches
Bathrooms: Inside community center
Picnic tables: Yes (3)
Grills: None
Sports field: One soccer field


We opted to visit the playground first, so we parked in the section further from the main entrance to AHCC. Although there was plenty of room to park today, expect competitive parking during non- and after-school hours.

The playground is about a one minute walk from the parking lot. We passed all three picnic tables on our way there (non-shaded, unfortunately).

The playground is well-used and very simple in its construction. At the same time, we easily spent a good 45 minutes out here and my kids asked to go back after we had gone inside to check out the library.


Perhaps my favorite part of the play area is its synthetic flooring: nothing gets stuck inside shoes or threatens splinters. I don't have to worry about it overheating on hot summer days or causing major scabs should one of my kids fall.

The playground is split into two areas. The first has a slide, some plastic log tunnels, a little climbing rock, and two baby swings. This area was perfect for my 15-month-old. She could climb up and down the slide and stairs without my help. Off to the side of this area is also a sliver of a sand box.


The second area was perfect for my 3- and 4-year-olds. It has a huge climbing net, a small climbing wall, a twirly pole (sorry; I still don't know what this is called!), and either stairs or climbing steps to get up to the slide.

Off to the side of the big kid area is what we called a "lazy swing." Think of it as a plastic hammock. All three kiddos were able to lay on it and ride together.


We headed inside to check out the library section of the community center (it also has a gym, community rooms, fitness center, and a tech room for teens, from what we saw). It's tiny in comparison to other libraries we have been to, but I was incredibly impressed with the children's section (which is smartly tucked into a corner, away from all other distractions!).

AHCC gets an A for its variety of toys, which consisted of a bakery, doll house, kitchenette, and magnet board with letters. For the size of the library, the quality of the kids' section is incredible.

While I don't plan on visiting very often due to how busy AHCC gets, I strongly recommend it for anyone who lives nearby. It was definitely a wise and worthwhile investment on the city's part.