Grandfather upset kids have no equipment to play on
Irate residents say unsafe equipment removed with no replacement plans
It’s a “crazy thing,” to rip out a playground and have no game plan for replacing it, says grandparent Gary Graves.
The South Windsor man is one of a number of Windsor residents complaining to city politicians that their local parks — more than 15 of them — have been stripped of their playground sets in the last year. When Graves called the city about a month ago, after watching the playground being torn down in nearby Mark Park, he was told: “There is nothing here about replacing it.”
That’s going to hopefully be resolved soon, said Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis, who noted that Mayor Drew Dilkens recently made a Facebook post promising a solution soon. Dilkens said several people had asked about playgrounds being removed from various parks.
The removals were necessary, the mayor explained, following a safety audit that showed “a number of units needing immediate removal,” either because they were unsafe or new parts were unavailable. A staff report is going to council soon that proposes several options, including spending $4.3 million to replace the units. It was expected to be addressed at the Aug. 28 meeting, but it’s been pushed back to Sept. 5.
Graves said removing the units before coming up with a plan to replace them is “sure putting the cart before the horse.”
He used to take his grandkids to the park regularly to use the playground equipment. Other neighbours are practically full-time babysitters to their grandchildren and rely on the playground equipment to keep the kids active. A local Montessori school takes impromptu field trips to the park, and a group of women with young kids meets there for yoga.
“The kids need a place to play, and that’s it,” said the retiree.
The city’s executive director of recreation and culture, Jan Wilson, said it’s unfortunate that some parks have gone without playground sets for more than a year. “But we cannot leave them in when they’re not safe.”
She said these removed units could not be immediately replaced because of a lack of funding, a scenario identified in a 2015 report on the safety of the playground units in the city’s more than 200 parks.
An audit of 132 play units several years ago identified 108 that had at least one hazard or problem. Most of these hazards were fixed, but a total of 36 play units had to be removed.
Of the 36 that were removed, 21 units were not to be replaced for various reasons, including that a particular park had more than one unit.
But there were 15 units that were supposed to be replaced, including the one in Mark Park, which would cost $261,550 for a playground with a rubber base.
“They’re relatively expensive, they’re not something we have the funds to do, and that was identified in the 2015 report, that this was going to be an issue as these units age,” said Wilson, who said the coming report to council will provide various options.
“It’s a funding issue, so council is being given some options and funding sources for replacing those units.”
Some of the oldest units in the city dated back to 1992 and did not meet the current CSA standards, according to the 2015 report.
“There’s a certain lifespan for units (15 to 20 years) and we do what we can to extend the lifespan as much as possible but it gets to the point where you can’t get the parts or they don’t meet the CSA standards,” Wilson said.
“At that point, we have to take it out of commission.”
Francis said residents angry over the prolonged absence of playgrounds in their parks have been calling asking: “Why don’t you keep it until there’s a replacement?
“Understandably they’re upset,” he said, noting they understand removing the unit, but they want it quickly replaced.
Once you know there’s a safety issue you have to remove them immediately, he said.
If an accident happens on a unit that the city knows is unsafe, the city could be held liable. He said safety standards have been getting more and more stringent, remarking that the playground he played on as a kid would never be allowed in a city park today.
“That’s a good thing. The standards make things safer.”
He’s pleased the report is coming forward with a proposed solution, hopefully with a funding source.
“I think it’s important to put playground equipment where we can, but certainly where we had them,” he said.
Even if council approved replacing all the missing playgrounds next month, it will take time to order and install them, Wilson said.