Viewpoint: New Playground Should Be Appreciated

Some parents are objecting to the firetruck slide at the new playground.

At the Park Advisory Board meeting several people objected to the theme of the new playground, which opened at the beginning of July with a few panels of first responders.

The first responder panels included a pretend police motorcycle, a firetruck and an ambulance. The park done in red, white and blue had some parents in tears and they want this playground gone.

During the Palisades Fire most residents felt they had been abandoned by first responders. Many blamed firefighters for the lack of response and police for not being here to aid in evacuation.

If people understand that firefighters must obey a higher command (they don’t have free will if they want to keep their job and pensions). It’s like the military; they must do as they’re told. CTN has been trying to find out who was in command and making the decisions: it wasn’t the lowly firefighter. The men on the ground should not be held in contempt.

There were not enough police in the town, but that goes back to the City leadership, which has not made hiring police a priority.

Find out who made the January 7, 8 and 9 decisions and “throw them out of town.”

In the future, if you have a medical emergency, you will call a paramedic. If someone is breaking into your home, you will dial 911 and call the police.

Don’t blame the hard-working men/women for the debacle that caused so many of us to lose our homes in this fire. Blame the politicians for not getting to the bottom of this disaster, starting with not stopping fireworks, not watching the burn scar, not sending enough fire trucks or knowing where to send them.

Keep the playground out of it: this isn’t about the play space where kids finally have a safe place to play.

The playground at the Rec Center was nearly 40 years old. The sand was dirty, the material worn and the area was not ADA-accessible. The Park Advisory Board worked for years to find funding to replace it. It never happened.

California Assembly Bill, 1055, required all playgrounds to be installed between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1999, be updated by January 2000. The Palisades Rec Center playground was not updated: it was installed in 1986.

According to some sources, playgrounds should see a new installation or update every eight to 10 years after the initial installation. Some commercial playground areas can last as long as 15-20 years.

Although busy every day, the Rec Center had one of the most outmoded playgrounds in the City. The sand, which is supposed to be cleaned daily, was filthy—and it did not allow a child in a wheelchair access to swings or slides.

This editor has reported, written and begged for someone/anyone to fund a playground. Unfortunately, too many parents send their kids to the playground with nannies, so they had no idea how bad it was.

In a March 18 Palisades Park Advisory Board Meeting, it was announced that a new playground would finally be built. The money would come from a donation to the Los Angeles Parks Foundation, which received a monetary and in-kind contribution of $1,330,000.

The Foundation received $1 million from FireAid,  GameTime (play and recreation equipment company) made a $300,000 contribution and the Banc of California contributed $30,000.

In March, GameTime’s Nathan Younker showed different areas and the possible equipment. He said that there would be a lot of sensory panels, every slide has a transfer deck (for wheelchair bound), a roller slide (for children with cochlear implants) and spinning saucer rides. There were musical panels, stained glass, and structures that work on a child’s balance and climbing skills. There were spring toys and different kinds of swings.

A new playground had been a topic at almost every Park Advisory Board Meeting agenda since 2014.

This editor was particularly upset when one parent suggested during the August meeting that this playground should be given to a Los Angeles Unified School District school. I wanted to ask her “will you give $1.3 million to replace this new playground?” If so, then go for it.