By Kali Morgan, Summer 2024

Mitchell Playground is at 3700 Whitehall Lane, 19114.
Phone: (215) 685-9394
Mitchell Playground Facebook

Large pool with tot section
Large concrete deck with multiple people sunbathing
Full sunlight/warm water
Accessible pool deck but no wheelchair lift
Mens’s/women’s restrooms with stalls in rec center building
Aqua Zumba on Saturdays
Tip: Hang out in the sprinklers if pool is at capacity

#MyPhillyPoolTour2024
JULY14, 2024

I’m back at Mitchell today. My GPS took me a different way, and I learned there’s a whole other entire parking lot in the back of the rec center where the ballfield is.
This is listed as one of the rec centers with a wheelchair lift, and the fine swimmers at Lawncrest told me that there’s Aqua Zumba here on Saturdays at 1pm. So I’m excited.
Last time I came here, the pool was at capacity, and that happened again today. Which is surprising on a weekday, but I was close to the 90th person and I watched some folks get turned away after I left (having to console themselves in the sprinklers until somebody else left the pool area). There were a surprising number of non-swimmers (possibly parents waiting for their kids) in the pool area, sunbathing on towels on the concrete patio.
Folding chairs, bags, etc., are allowed inside the pool area.
There is no wheelchair lift. However, there are two sets of steps in the tot section of the pool, both with adult-sized hand railings. Depending on your accessibility needs, this could be helpful, but you will need to duck under lines to get into the rest of the pool.
The rec center building is a ways away from the pool, with stalled men’s and women’s rooms that seem to be retrofitted with support bars for accessibility. The doors to these restrooms are propped open, which is pretty common at playgrounds, although I have not previously thought about it too much.
There were definitely fewer people in the pool today today than on the 4th of July, but also apparently fewer lifeguards, resulting in the capacity issue.
When I was a kid, public pools had hourly segments during free swim. You had to get out after that one hour session and let people in with dry swimsuits only… This is the only pool so far on my tour where I have seen capacity be an issue, and I’ve seen it both times I’ve been here.
But this is a really nice pool. Just be prepared to play in the sprinkler until space opens up.

JULY 4, 2024
Beautiful L-shaped pool that is the most crowded per square inch of the day. So much so that they are allowing people in by shifts, but I don’t have the energy to wait another half hour. I think it’s time for me to go home for the day.
This was a larger pool and might have stairs somewhere within its confines, but I don’t remember so I will check on that when I visit again.