Townsend Park

I have heard some horror stories from my neighbors about not allowing their children to play in Townsend Park because of the horrible shape it is in. Townsend Park is located on Chartiers Avenue here in Elliott. It is the park that I grew up in and loved to play in as a kid. I walked down the street and actually walked through the park and saw what everyone has been talking about. It is in a disgraceful condition. No one should allow their children to play in this playground. It it unsightly and unsafe on every level. Some of the major problems I saw included: a rusted water fountain, missing green safety matting that children should be able to play on, faded signs that are illegible, missing and chipped paint on the monkey bars, graffiti on the equipment, crumbling cement walls all around the park, exposed roots from trees which are now tripping hazards, chipped wood on benches and the most egregious thing I saw was at the bottom of the fireman pole was the lack of a safe spot for children to land. Instead of the typical green safety matting there was a piece of old wood nailed to something underneath it. On top of this piece of wood was a smaller piece of wood that looks like it was covering a hole in the bigger piece of wood.

I believe that children should have spaces to play and develop with other children. There is no reason why this playground has to look like this. There is no reason why it can't have some minimal repairs to get it back into a safe state of operation. No one should have to fear for their child's safety at a neighborhood playground.

Below are some pictures I took while at the park.