By Karen Blackledge
The Daily Item
September 02, 2008 05:12 pm
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DANVILLE — With a list of 14 safety items needing to be addressed and the risk of insurance coverage being lost, the Kidsville playground complex was closed Tuesday.
Orange and red “no trespassing” signs have been posted along the dark brown wooden fence of the castle-style wooden structure at the Washies Playground in Danville’s 2nd Ward.
The main entrance was barricaded by an orange plastic fence with a more permanent and locked barricade to be installed.
The items that need to be corrected before the insurance company will sign off lack volunteers to do them.
Kidsville has money for materials for the work but the last time they asked for people to help out, they got maybe six, said Trish Quinter, the original volunteer coordinator for the complex built for $90,000 from donations and fundraisers by 600 to 1,000 volunteers in five days in 1996. “My brother Ken was the project manager,” she said.
“We risked losing all our (insurance) coverage for the site,” said Don Lutz III, president of the Washies Fire Company the Kidsville site. Kidsville leases the land from the Washies.
The Washies and Kidsville have called a meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday in the Washies to try to figure out what to do. They wanted anyone with ideas or who can help out to show up.
“It’s very unfortunate. Some kids have ruined some of the structure that needs repaired,” Lutz said.
“The kids really use it,” he said of the playground they put off closing until after Labor Day.
Some of the swings need to be repaired. We need 12 inches of mulch,” Quinter said.
“There was a lot of heart and soul put into this. My dad built every picket and carved the names on them,” she said.
When they’ve asked for people to help recently, they gotten neighbors including grandparents who don’t have kids using Kidsville anymore.
Selective Insurance Co. of America’s audit from a year and a half ago produced a list of what had to be done. “Since then other things have broken,” Lutz said. The insurance company sent the Washies a letter, dated Aug. 18, about the safety concerns. They include repair or remove broken swings, the tire swing and a platform swing, repair a broken corner on an echo dish, replace a splintered handrail, repair or replace a broken floor joist under the upper level of the center tower, repair a loose and sagging floorboard on the walkway near the towers, install a safety rail at the rappelling chain so the opening is limited to two-feet, install new end links on the web chain climb, replenish mulch to at least 12 inches thick, rake the sandbox of debris, remove weeds from the mulch bed, clean litter and post signs indicating rules of conduct.
“The last thing we want to see is closing Kidsville permanently,” Quinter said.
Jane Foust, also a member of Friends of Kidsville, said they have tried to raise volunteers from among parents at the nearby ballparks, elementary schools and daycare centers.
The Washies will put up a fence with a key so people can’t get into the complex. “The kids will have that fence torn down tonight,” Lutz said of the orange fence.
He notified Danville police the complex is off limits and added the Washies will prosecute trespasses or vandals.
Since the area has been the target of vandalism, Quinter said they hope to install motion detector lights.
“We find beer bottles, beer cases and all sorts of stuff here,” Lutz said.
The Washies had to put a locked sliding gate on the playground’s bathrooms after they were vandalized.
“A handful of kids have ruined it for the little kids,” Lutz said.
The complex was originally designed by kids. “Those kids are out of school now and a whole set of people come here and don’t understand the value of it,” Quinter said.
“We have constantly been calling on the same people for help,” Foust said.
After a piece of equipment was broken, a senior did do a senior project by building a climbing wall there, Quinter said.
Lutz said they need an action plan and a time frame but have to get the process started now. “We need to pressure-wash it and seal it and put down the mulch in the spring,” he said.
Volunteers don’t have to have special skills. People can pull weeds or operate hoses.
Admitting getting volunteers to do the needed work is a stop-gap solution, Quinter said, “We’d like to see a permanent solution and hope to have a long-term rotating board.”
“The key is volunteers. We can’t do it with 5 to 10 people,” Foust said.
“We need parents of kids who have been enjoying this,” she said.
To that, Lutz added, “Anybody who is wiling to help.”
Anyone wanting to help but unable to make the meeting should call Quinter at 275-8267 or Foust at 275-2382.
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