Safety Vs. Sentimentality

If you have been a child or have parented a child in Corvallis in the years between 1989 and 2006, then you have probably been to Wildcat Park. Wildcat Park is this great complex of wooden fort-style play structures, tires, bridges, poles and swings that was built at one of our local elementary schools 17 years ago. It is undoubtedly the most-loved playground in town, host to numerous birthday parties and picnics over the years. Unfortunately, it has been loved to death -- it has been deemed unsafe and is now closed. A snippet from the Corvallis Parks and Recreation Division press release states:

The audit of Wildcat Park, carried out by an independent consultant with expertise in playground safety, indicates significant safety issues, including adequacy of safety surfacing material; structural safety of support columns; unsafe spacing of structural and non-structural parts of equipment; non-compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); plus many other equipment safety and ADA concerns.

It seems pretty straightforward, right? But since the announcement was made, there has been a minor controversy brewing. Apparently, the architect who designed Wildcat Park specified that the structures be built with southern yellow pine. Instead, pressure-treated Douglas fir was used, which doesn't last as long. The company also provides maintenance on their structures, which the school district apparently decided to handle themselves in 2003. Some citizens are upset that the Corvallis school district published an opinion indicating that maintenance or repair would not be enough to bring the structures to code, when certain aspects might have been fixed and preserved, rather than tearing the structures down completely.

There are now a couple of signs posted on lamp posts in the northern part of town calling for petitions! Meetings! Maybe even an organized protest! The actual level of outrage seems fairly low overall, maybe not even enough to warrant Blue Level on the Department of Homeland Security's color-coded terrorist threat advisory system. Which is good. Because really, no matter how cool the playground is, if it's unsafe, it should be replaced.

Maybe the people posting signs could organize a fundraiser instead so that the new playground equipment is even better than what is being replaced. Naaaah. Instead, we'll probably end up with a whole lot of continued griping, interspersed with nostalgic sniffling, until the new, probably neon, plastic behemoth is built. That would be a shame, indeed.