Lakeside Park (big park)

Lakeside Park was built as a replacement for the Town Center in Twinbrook. It still has most of the original red oak trees, together with the fountain and statue, although the statue has been relocated to a corner of the lot. Maybe it’s a former dignitary who has now fallen out of favour a little…

The lot started off as a compilation of childhood memories of various parks (and one stately home) but has been evolving over the past few months, either because things (notably the aviary) didn’t work or because townie Sims showed no interest in them

The park is divided up into several sections:

• Children’s playground.
• Toddlers’ play area. The Sweet Simmer’s Outdoor Activities for Toddlers mod is needed for them to be able to use the slide, play on the spring riders without help and join in with picnics. There was originally a Wendy house but adults kept crowding into it and then complaining that they couldn’t move, while the poor toddlers were left outside. (No idea why, since the weather was good and none of the adults in question hated the outdoors.) So now the ‘indoor’ toddler toys are in a sort of gazebo, where no-one can get stuck.
• Bandstand. In the absence of a Sim brass band, this is set up with Late Night instruments, although if you want it to function as a gig location you’ll have to add a professional bar somewhere on the lot. The planting in this section is all that remains of the planned British-municipal-style flowerbeds. They’re not really to my taste in gardens and I got bored.
• ’Japanese’ garden, heavily influenced by Newstead Abbey. The koi come from memories of a totally different pond, which was much plainer because the fish kept eating the plants .
• Bowling green. Since crown green bowling isn’t a thing in Sims 3, I originally left the green as an empty space, which Sims used for games of tag and catch, or the occasional water balloon fight. (Shocking!) Then I discovered the pétanque set from Around the Sims 3. The Orb of Answers from Supernatural makes a reasonably convincing bowling ball, although the players will, of course, still be using boules when they’re playing. Although it’s smaller than the jack from bowls, I left the cochonnet as it was apart from a recolour, because one of the balls needs to be left uncovered to click on and start a game.
• Barbecue area, complete with fire bucket and hose in case of accidents . As well as the picnic tables nearby, there are also three community picnic baskets in the park – one in the toddlers’ play area and two on the lawn near the bandstand.
• Areas for playing Gnubb and chess. The giant chess set can’t actually be played with, of course, but could be rearranged to look as though it’s in mid-game. I still remember how impressed I was the first time I saw a chess set bigger than I was…
• Male, female and accessible toilets. Some of the bins were placed with moveobjects but they don’t get in the way of using the facilities.

Price:
§179033 furnished, §80648 unfurnished

Content used

Expansions:
World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Showtime and Island Paradise were used extensively. Seasons is required for playing pétanque/bowls (and for the snow cone cart, toddlers' slide and bee spring rider).
There are several plants and the three spring riders from Into the Future, and a few plants from University Life and Pets.

Stuff packs:
Seahorse spring rider and sand dragon from Town Life.
Table in ladies’ loo and fire bucket from Fast Lane.

Store content:
To Have and To Fold (bandstand area seating)
Rock Steady Fence and The Way the Moss Grows Stone Steps (bridge in ‘Japanese’ garden)
Little Lovers’ Bench from Hidden Springs (seating around bowling green)
Juniper tree from Monte Vista
Haunted pansies from Midnight Hollow
Hippocamp spring rider from The Golden Ticket Toyshop

Optional mod:
Depending on how much Simporting you’ve done, you may need velocitygrass’s reward unlock for the chess pieces.

Thanks to the makers of the CC and mods used in the build, and also to AussomeDays for the recolourable Twinbrook City Hall, which can be seen in the background of some screenshots.