Casual Survey: What residents think about moving the playground to the front of town hall
Since Friday, this article has drawn eight comments. See them in “Read more.”
June 11, 2010
by Christine Yeres
At 1:19 p.m. on Thursday, April 29, while attempting to park behind town hall, an 81-year-old male inadvertently accelerated through the wood post fence behind town hall and into the playground, which is lower than the level of the parking lot. No children or adults were in the playground area at the time. There were no injuries to the driver. The playground has been closed since then and the town is taking steps to recover monetary damages from the driver.
The playground was constructed about 18 years ago, according to Bob Snyder, the head of New Castle Recreation and Parks Department, and with a life expectancy of around 20 years, it would soon be time to think about replacing or rebuilding it. Instead of rebuilding it in the same place, the town board wondered in a recent work session whether the town should construct a playground instead on the front lawn of town hall consistent with the Projects for Public Spaces report encouraging the use of that lawn as part of a more engaging streetscape.
Parameters of casual survey at Strawberry Festival
At last Saturday’s Strawberry Festival, NCNOW.org ask residents: “Should the town construct a playground for young children in front of town hall and abandon the old location behind?”
The festival attendees being posed this question were informed that there had been a recent accident with no injuries in the vicinity of the playground and that the playground would need replacing in a few years.
Verbatim community responses
1. It would look better than those horizontal scratchy junipers in front of town hall, but I do like that it’s tucked away now in the back. They’d have to have some serious fence protecting it if they placed one in front.
2. Yes, I like the idea that it would be closer to the library. I’d have to see how the parking fit, perhaps some special parking right nearby.
3. It’s not a good idea. I go back there for the shade and for easy, close parking with the stroller and kids.
4. I like it where it is now. Because not many people even know about it, you don’t get a lot of people who don’t live here going there. I didn’t know about it myself for a long time after I moved here.
5. It’s a terrible idea. They should leave well enough alone. The space in front of town hall would be big, hot and open. Yuck. The one behind town hall is really for preschoolers, shaded and small. I heard that a car went into it, but that was a freak accident.
6. They should put it behind the Community Center instead. You could get out of your car and it’s right there.
7. Too bad we can’t build a parking structure. Ninety percent of the cars sit at the train station taking up prime space all day. If they built a structure, we could give over the center space near the train station to commerce and have more shops in that shaded area in front of the station.
8. How about a kiddie water park in front of town hall instead? Just a very nice fountain, like in the City parks. And make it an ice skating rink in winter.
9. I like it. Streets are for people. The more reason people have to stay on the street, or be drawn to a next place, the better.
10. It’s shady in the back. I like the seclusion, the privacy. And there are no traffic fumes. Would they put shade trees in the front?
11. If they can’t put trees, maybe some flying fabric tent tops?
12. If a playground is going to show in front, it would have to be really, really handsome, not homemade looking. It would have to be a real designed piece.
13. I heard they needed the back space for a police department expansion. Is that why they’re considering it?
14. Well, it’s shady in back. I think it’s worth looking into, but most important, if they move it to the front it would still have to be for young children. Bell is for older kids. And it would have to be very well protected from traffic by serious fencing.
15. I heard there was an accident back there. I’m glad no one was hurt. That could happen anywhere. Is that what the town board is worried about? Another accident?
16. I like it better because it’s all hidden. We walk the town all the time. We live up 120 and use the sidewalks all the time.
17. I’d like to see a playground even closer to the library, like at the library. I suppose the library wants to keep the space for expansion, but it would be so convenient to have a playground right there.
18. I think there are safety issues. I’m not persuaded that it would be better in front. I know about the accident behind town hall, but that was a rare occurrence.
19. There are safety issues. Having little kids run around that confined space so close to two roads and the parking lot in front of town hall is nuts.
20. Two flagpoles limit the useable space and constitute a safety issue. They would have to put barriers around them so the little ones will not be able to crash into them.
21. What about the aesthetics of a playground set in that locale?
22. How about some nice outdoor sculpture?
23. Unless they totally reconfigure the front of town hall, that green area isn’t really that user friendly.
24. It would be good to have it out front, because you forget about it back there!
25. Is it necessary? Fix the bridge instead!
26. I can see the advantage of having it away from traffic, tucked back there behind town hall. But I would have found it sooner when we moved here if it had been visible from the library.
27. I think they should put a playground closer to the baseball rec field so little kids can play on it while bigger kids or parents are playing baseball or softball.
29. No one knows it’s there now, which is both good and bad.
30. It’s ugly! It should stay hidden. Would you put a playground on your front lawn?
31. Trees, a fountain and seating. That would be enough.
It seems to me that the present location of the playground is the ideal location, as it is better shaded, better screened and more secure. Having the playground in the front of Town Hall, along a busy street, would produce more safety and security concerns, and would be less attractive. With regard to protecting the present playground from the parking area, a more secure guardrail should have been installed long ago (did anybody actually think that the wood fence would stop a car?), and installing one now, and repairing the present playground, would be far less costly than building a new playground area. It seems to me that the present playground is fine, was being well-used, and in these budget-conscious days, we have much more pressing needs for our tax dollars than tearing down a perfectly fine existing playground and building a new one nearby. Besides, did the people who donated the time, energy and funds to create the existing playground expect that it would only have a 20-year useful life, and then be torn down & replaced? I doubt it. We can’t be that wasteful with our resources anymore.
Please leave it where it is. Even though there was an accident, it was a freak accident (1 in 18 years - please!!!). It’s a lovely spot, shaded, and, yes, safe.
If someone feels the need to do something to the front lawn of town hall, a sculpture like the panther at the library, would be appropriate.
Not anything like the panther at the library! Plenty of people would pay to have that panther REMOVED! The circle alone would be 1000% more attractive! Away with the panther!
I like the idea of making that deep, distant front yard of town hall into something closer to the street and more inviting. And there’s no high-speed traffic there. Good, attractive fencing and a fountain with benches and trees that will grow to give shade (we can’t afford big ones nowadays) would be lovely. And away with those useless junipers!
As one of the original volunteers, without docksiders and a polo shirt, who dug the holes and poured the concrete and set the posts, I totally agree with Bill Spade, and strongly feel that a more protective guide rail and any necessary repairs to the present system should suffice for at least another 20 years.
Seriously, a playground on the front lawn next to South Greeley Avenue? The road is extremely busy and the possibility of accidents seems much greater than this freak accident. I wouldn’t bring my children to play there.
I agree with Mr. Spade, why is the town board even considering spending our tax dollars when the current playground is well used and liked? Put in a stronger guard rail and fix the playground at the current location.
Just put up a heavy duty guard rail to protect the existing playground and forget about it. We don’t need any more fuzzy feel good projects that cost big bucks and increase our taxes.
What they really need to do is to increase employee parking so that the inconsiderate town hall employees would not always park in the “visitors only” spaces in front of town hall. Why are they allowed to do this?
The playground should stay where it is. Shade and less car exhaust are two key reasons. Money is another.
Want to put something smart on that ground in front of Town Hall? Start a community garden. We’ve got full sun and high visibility. Those of us with shade and deer would love to have a place to grow some food.
As peak oil, climate change and economic instability continue to become visible issues, community gardens offer part of the solution: the start of a local food supply.
This community garden could also help to train residents in the hows and whys of composting. If everyone had a home composting practice, we could all save money on municipal waste pick up.
Instead of a park make it a place where the Bell School kids can go after school instead of clogging up our downtown stores. Every Friday at 3 there are hundreds of kids running around, throwing things, screaming, blocking sidewalks and all this while cars are flying down the hill on King Street. Yes, there is a policeman on the corner but he is only dealing with traffic at that particular intersection and not the mayhem that is occurring by Mario’s, Starbucks, and the toy store. It is just an accident waiting to happen, plus it discourages people coming into town on Friday afternoons because it is such a zoo.
The retailers need that Friday afternoon business that is being lost by people not wanting to deal with the kids, and the kids are just being kids (they really aren’t bad) they just don’t have anything to do with themselves except get caffeinated at Starbucks and then “sugared up” at Auntie Pennies which is not a good combo.
I love the idea of a kids’ water fountain/play park, as in NYC, with a skating rink in winter. IMO, the present playground should be kept where it is, and only safety issues, if any, should be addressed to save money. The water fountain and skating rink might be popular enough to require extra parking, but spaces on the perimeter of the front lawn would be a good idea anyway in light of library and town hall overflows. Such a plan might well attract some private funding, as did the well-used playground.
Cindy,
It would take more than a park for Bell kids to stop the Friday pilgrimage to town by both the Bell and 7Bridges kids.
Sugar and caffeine are both highly addictive substances. Dare I be so bold to state the obvious: the candy at Rite Aid/ Auntie Penny and the sugar/ caffeine combos at both Starbucks/ Dunkin’ Donuts all add up to a toxic food environment. Comprehensive education for both students and parents about the damage that refined sugar causes might be a good start to stem the high flow of kids getting their fix on Friday afternoons.
I think Marian’s idea is a good one - the space in front of Town Hall should be an urbane park-type space, with landscaping, outdoor seating areas and other features (fountain, chess tables). This would be a nice outdoor complement to the Library, with the small kids Playground remaining in the back. Maybe we could install some vertical windmills as part of a sculpture park, which would provide electricity to Town Hall, and be a source of education & inspiration for kids.
I agree with Marian Williams. The present playground doesn’t seem at all dated and will be fine with a more heavy-duty parking barrier. The library could use more parking and I too LOVE the idea of a water fountain/play park.
