Wilma Chan Park (formerly Madison Square Park)

The playground here might be an actual safety hazard. While we were there we encountered exposed nails on the slide stairs and tons of broken glass on the dragon climbing structure. I hope Oakland renovates this park soon, but until then I’d skip this one with the kids, there’s nicer playground a few blocks down at Lincoln Park.

It is a nice neighborhood park in the area namesake. It is not well maintenanced, although a new bathroom was built here in the past year. It has a soccer field and a couple of tennis courts, which some of the locals are using to play a different sport. and a lot of trees, some of whom obscure what would otherwise be a nice view of downtown Oakland and San Francisco on the other side of the bay.

Wilma Chan Park is truly a lovely place. 💛 What I love most is the sense of community—you’ll see people of all ages enjoying the space together. There are always folks playing basketball, older adults walking or stretching, and younger people doing all kinds of workouts. 🏀 There are great basketball courts 💪 Plenty of space for cardio drills 🌿 Bars and open areas perfect for bodyweight workouts—I’ve been practicing knee-ups and working on my hangs! The park is clean, peaceful, and the people are always kind and respectful. Plus, the birds and the surrounding neighborhood add such a peaceful, natural vibe. It’s one of my favorite places to workout for free outside in downtown Oakland.

I went sat there for awhile. It was so peaceful. I like that 🏞️😎 park. When. I was homeless I slept there for a year. No one bothering me. It's a Chinese exercise part

Plenty of space & close to Bart,Court house, Oakland museum ans Lake Merritt

Really, Renovations need to happen. After school kids are play in a place where displaced people longer or live. Tents and huts of some sort. A face left would be nice.

This park has a lot of historical value in Oakland Chinatown. While it's not the most resourced park in Oakland, it gets used throughout the day either from Seniors doing Tai Chi, charter school students doing P.E., kids playing on the swing sets and the park is large enough to accommodate community events. It's just down the street from Lake Merritt BART, Chinatown commercial core and other places.

Needs a clean up and would be very pleasant

Newly named Wilma Chan park. Was once Madison Square park. Lots of concrete. Big circular area with painted lines. Highlight is concrete. Would like to see it become a skateboard park. Some tents and homeless. Needs more than just a new name.

This use to be Madison Square Park and renamed to Wilma Chan Park now. Unfortunately, even with a name change to honor the former alameda county supervisor Wilma Chan nothing has changed about this park. I feel like they should have just torn it down and rebuilt something nicer in her name. This park takes up a whole block and it's mostly concrete in the middle and grass on the sides. There's a really small play area for kids that features a dragon with a sandpit, small slide and a couple of baby swings. The one basketball court looks so lonely since there's enough space to add at least a half dozen more around it. Theres some benches scattered around the park but you will be sitting in the sun because there is no shade except under a few trees that were occupied by homeless people. This park might be a social gathering place for some older Chinese people because I heard the sound of mahjong being played in an area with a row of tents. If you are looking for a park to take your kids, you're better off going to Lincoln Square Park a couple blocks away.

My sister and I met at this park for first Wednesday about a week ago. There is a slight improvement, but not enough to warrant a three star rating. There was a long line of people from the community, waiting for free hand out of fresh fruits (apples and pears), fresh vegetables (broccoli and zucchini), bread, etc. There were representatives from health organizations handing out leaflets of the danger of e-vapes, which seems to be popular among young people (teenagers). The organizers of this event had a raffle for door prizes. There was plenty of prizes from local businesses. I came close to winning a prize; alas, no dice. Still it was fun. Finally, I was glad that there were not as many encampments compared to what I had seen about a year ago. I guess slight improvement is better than nothing being done. 2.5 star rating.

Not even worth taking any pictures because it's such an eyesore. This park is in such neglected condition that no kids come here anymore to play. Why? Sad but this place has become a homeless encampment. So many shopping carts parked with the homeless people's belongings, tarps to protect them from heat and rain, laundry hanging everywhere. I didn't come near them as I stayed across the street watching in disbelief why the government has not done anything about this? Not trying to be political but I hope the homeless get the help they need and the kids be able to reclaim their playground.

Not appealing. Was in town to visit a brewery nearby, and happened to pass by this park. It was not an encouraging sight. I wasn't exactly afraid of all the homeless people camping inside, but I didn't feel especially welcome either. Recommend skipping this place.

Madison Park is an underresourced park in Oakland Chinatown that gets a lot of activity in spite of that. In the mornings there have been groups of adults and seniors that have been doing Tai Chi and other cultural dances for generations. Also, more recently, some of the local charter schools have been using it for physical education. There have been community groups that been trying to push the city to invest more resources in the park by helping with some short term improvements and interventions. In the last couple years, homeless encampments have been growing in Oakland Parks. I hope there's a strategy that can help everyone and improve the quality of our parks, especially Madison.

this Madison Park is a sad facsimile of the park i've had happy times playing in whilst i was young. . this "park" is mostly concrete, unkempt, has no shade. refuge to literally hundreds of foraging pigeons. the former park, a block over, had very tall trees, lots of vegetatton, live animals thriving within. lots of shaded areas to rest under. while progress is wonderful, forgotten are the hundreds who lost their housing when laney college, BART HQ, bart station, oakland museum, and frank youell field displaced them.

Sad playground and an environment that is cause for concern about the City's priorities. Chinatown is not a place for slums and accumulations of nasty debris. Hundreds of locals use this place daily. I have no doubt thousands pass through the area every few hours that BART is operating, transporting commuters, families, and students. I have seen someone washing dirty underwear in the drinking fountain. A lot of other problems are not being corrected by Oakland government. The City of Richmond, the City of Berkeley, and the City of Albany may be somewhat responsible and should join the conversation. How is this poor review "Funny?" I can't imaging what kind of character a citizen would lack if this is funny. Parks are for everyone, especially children

This park is one of the saddest urban spaces one could imagine-- for the most part it's a wide open treeless concrete slab. The children's play structures on the east side are small, and the swing set's marked characteristic is as a roost for seagulls, night herons and pigeons, completely iced with guano. An old structure on the north east end, perhaps once a playhouse, has become a permanent homeless encampment. Same is to be said of the awning covered benches on the west end of the park. In spite of this, the Chinatown locals come out to use the space anyway for tai chi and some other kinds martial arts. The whole park could use a good hosing off, some new play gear, a few trees, and perhaps some covered picnic tables.

I am so glad I just learned that the painted concrete circles in Madison Park actually form a labyrinth! I have been there many times and walked around the park on the sidewalk even more times with my daughter's little dog (May he Rest In Peace). It is an 11 circuit labyrinth painted on concrete with 2 more outer circles. Since the homeless campers were relocated a couple of years ago, the labyrinth area is used for Tai Chi exercisers, older Asian men playing games I'm under an overhang, school sports teams and to one side, very efficient Covid Testing in outside tents staffed by Asian Health Services. It's a wonderful place for a small park spreading between 8th-9th Streets between Madison and Jackson - adjacent to The Lake Merritt Bart Station and also just 2 blocks from Laney College. I'd give this park a 5 star review except for the endless illegal dumping which occurs in and around it. Make an appointment for a Covid test or just stop in and give this city park a little love.

This is truly a community park! Wake up early in the morning and catch a tai chi lesson. Seniors from nearby centers can be found doing their early morning exercise. Lead by instructors, some times even with music. There are groups doing tai chi, and every now and then they have the tai chi form with a sword. If you are a badminton enthusiast, come and join the racket! You can watch the shuttlecocks flying as you walk by. No nets required, it's just for fun. In the afternoons the nearby schools use it for their outdoor activities. It is wonderful to see schools utilizing parks for Phys Ed. More often than not due to lack of space, modified lessons are substituted into the curriculum and students don't get to play. I'm adding this place to my bucket list. [_] Bucket List: join one tai chi sword lesson. Until next time, Cheers

This place is like the saddest park ever. Whenever I get off Lake Merritt BART, I walk right through it. It's not so much I mind the homeless encampment. I understand life is tough, and people need a place to crash. I'm not hating on the tents at all. I am, however, hating that the tents are propped up all over the children's playground. I'm also hating that 9 out of 10 times I walk through here, I see a grown man's dick and balls. Seriously, I have seen dudes: a) urinating, b) defecating, c) masturbating, d) washing their junk off in the f'ing water fountain!!!!! On top of that, I have also seen people smoking rocks, shooting up, and snortin ish. Again, not hating on drug use, but Jesus people, it's just so wide open in daylight on a jungle gym.....