The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Cities remove hoops rims, close playgrounds
The impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to be felt by Lorain County communities.
Within the past week, cities across the county have closed public playgrounds and basketball courts in accordance with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s orders. DeWine ordered all public playgrounds be closed to the public starting March 23 at 11:59 p.m. through April 6 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Despite the playground closure, parks will remain open to the public.
Several cities in Lorain County have not only closed public playgrounds and basketball courts, they’ve also removed the rims from the basketball hoops in order to prevent anyone from using them.
Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen ordered the removal of the rims from the basketball hoops at Schwartz Road Park after being asked to do so by the health department. He wasn’t completely happy with the decision but understands the reasoning behind it.
“I took them down with some apprehension because I think there’s times where these kids do it right, (by) not playing basketball, but they could shoot hoops,” Jensen said. “However, I understand why we’re doing things.”
The city of Avon has also placed signs, rather than caution tape, at all public playgrounds announcing their closure for safety reasons.
“We have signs up at all of our playgrounds saying that they are off limits,” Jensen said.
“We were going to wrap the tape around them, but we were afraid that a child could get tangled up in it.”
Jensen understands this can be difficult for members of the community because of the circumstances surrounding the coronavirus.
“I’ve seen on occasion that some parents are letting one or two of their kids play in certain areas,” Jensen said. “It is difficult for everyone because we are all, 20,000 some members of the community, are trying to find something to do to keep occupied. It’s the right thing to do. I just think it makes it tough on everyone.”
Jensen knows it will be difficult to enforce this new procedure.
“It’s almost going to be impossible to police it because you are just hoping that people do the right thing,” Jensen said. “Because we’re splitting our police force up and moving them around, we don’t have the number of police in different areas to sit there and watch families.
“I think the Lorain County Health Department is doing a great job getting the word out. (They have been) talking about keeping the social distancing, and I think that is something we are all getting used to. We have that natural tendency to reach out and shake someone’s hand and when we get to a playground (we) have that natural tendency to let our kids run over there. I think it’s going to be an adjustment for all of us.”
The city of North Ridgeville followed suit and has closed all public playgrounds. The playground at South Central Park is surrounded by caution tape, and the entrances to the basketball courts are blocked off with caution tape. In addition, the rims have been removed from the hoops.
North Ridgeville High School announced March 27 all athletic fields, school playgrounds and the football stadium are closed in response to DeWine’s orders.
Max Upton, the Safety Service Director for the city of Lorain, said the city has closed public playgrounds.
“Our public property department has put the signs up to close the playgrounds,” Upton said. “We certainly want to encourage all of our residents to enjoy our parks but do so in a way that adheres to the principles of social distancing.”
Despite closing playgrounds, Lorain has yet to remove the rims from their public basketball hoops.
“We have not yet gotten to the point where we are taking rims down,” Upton said. “However, I think if we are compelled to do so, that’s something that we are certainly prepared to do.”