[4] The playground contains six baseball diamonds, two football fields, one track, two tennis courts, and a gymnasium.
[7][8] Development of Metairie Playground began in 1945, following the end of World War II and during a time of civic progress in Jefferson Parish.
[9] The playground was renamed on June 28, 2003, in memory of Wally Pontiff, Jr., who played college baseball for Louisiana State University.
Before an unexpected death at the age of 21, Pontiff was deciding whether to continue his career at LSU or to play for the Oakland Athletics after being drafted in the 21st round.
After the storm, Jefferson Parish built an earthen berm around it to hold water in future emergencies.