DATE: Tuesday, May 20, 1997                 TAG: 9705200057

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: PLACES TO GO 

SOURCE: BY ANN BARRY BURROWS, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   45 lines

A PLAY SITE FOR USING YOUR IMAGINATION

IMAGINATION ISLAND, the elaborate playground in Norfolk's Northside Park, is much improved.

Until recently, many parents would avoid the place if there had been a recent rain. It was sure to be a giant, soupy puddle instead of an island. However, the city of Norfolk has corrected the drainage, and now all's well.

We went on a recent sunny day that came amid a series of rainy ones, and the mulch around the play equipment was dry. A nearby school had let out early, and the park was filled with picnicking families. (McDonald's and Burger King are across the street.)

The best thing about Imagination Island is the way the space is arranged. Children are nicely enclosed in a fence, but with ample room. The play equipment sits amid wide stretches of grass dotted with shady live oak trees.

Inside the playground there is some terrific equipment for tiny tots: a merry-go-round and a space ship and a turtle. In a shady corner the little ones have their own slide set, with a crawling tunnel and climbing bars.

In the center of the playground are three large sets of swings and a sand-filled, wooden ship that comes complete with talking tubes for secret messages.

Nearby are tire swings and a complex of slides, bridges, scaffolds, hanging bars and climbing chains. The rubber-coated equipment is red, green and yellow, and spreads out far enough to challenge the most athletic youngster.

Beyond the fence that surrounds the play area are more wide-open parts of this huge city park, containing baseball diamonds, dirt-bike trails, a marsh-walk trail, tennis courts, pool and recreation center, with restrooms.

This park is a good place to find sun or shade, to climb and swing, or to stretch out a blanket and sleep. Though we've visited many times, my daughter and I have never tired of Imagination Island. ILLUSTRATION: IMAGINATION ISLAND

Where: Northside Park, Tidewater Drive north of Little Creek

Road, Norfolk

Open: Dawn to dusk

Cost: $1 per car weekends after 2 p.m., free at other times

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