The latest budget victims: children's playgrounds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Instead of repairing or replacing playgrounds, the city of Clearwater, strapped by budget cuts, is tearing them down. As our colleague Drew Harwell reports here, nine of the city's 34 playgrounds were destroyed within the last five years, city records show. Five more are scheduled for demolition by 2019.

City parks and recreation director Kevin Dunbar defended the demolition as a safety measure. The playground equipment in one case was 17 years old — past a playground's "typical lifespan" of 12 to 15 years, city spokeswoman Joelle Castelli said. Replacing it would have cost between $50,000 and $75,000.

How sad is this? Sure they are saving repair money, but the initial investment is thrown down the toilet. To rebuild those playgrounds later I would imagine would be much costlier than the repair bill.

What do you think of this parents? Should playgrounds be sacrificed in a tight budget year?

--Sharon Kennedy Wynne

PHOTO: Rico Johnson, 11, of Clearwater emerges from a slide Friday at the Martin Luther King Jr. playground, next on the hit list. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]

Posted by Sharon Wynne at 7:00:00 am on September 27, 2011 in

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Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.

E-mail Sharon Kennedy Wynne:
wynne@tampabay.com

After six long years of trying to have a baby, Kate Brassfield was finally able to have one. And then, two minutes later, another one. Suddenly the lady who had never been around babies before was juggling two! Just as Kate felt she was getting pretty good with babies, the girls became toddlers, and now Kate is back to Square One, learning about the care and feeding of these strange, wonderful creatures. She spends her days working part-time from home and trying to keep up with the Twinosaurus Wrecks.

E-mail Kate Brassfield:
katedaphne17@gmail.com

Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at courtneyblogs@gmail.com.

Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, ZannaLand.com , and she's a member of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel in addition to being addicted to Twitter, iced coffee, and watching way too much Yo, Gabba Gabba.

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