NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson City Parks and Facilities Director Justin Combs explained to the City Council Tuesday that a Facebook post last weekend regarding Grandview Park has prompted some work from his department.
"We have looked at that playground," Combs said. "There are clearly some deferred maintenance issues there that we need to address. There's no excuse for not addressing it sooner. We've talked to our staff. We will get out there, remove the pour in place black rubber surface as well as the concrete that's below, jackhammer that out and install new wood chips, as well as some additional minor repairs to the playground."
Combs said in his nearly eight years of service, getting the department back in shape to address playgrounds has been an issue.
"When I started in 2014, it was very, very clear to me that, with the exception of Orchard Park that had just opened, no investment in playgrounds had been made in our community in 20 to 25 years. Our new playgrounds were built in the 90s when I arrived. I've made a very strong commitment to upgrading our playgrounds."
Seven playgrounds have been dealt with, including two new playgrounds while Combs has been serving the city, but he acknowledges that the city may still have too many playgrounds to maintain properly.
"We have 22 playgrounds in our system," Combs said. "I think a 30% reduction in our playgrounds would do a lot of good in terms of our ability to maintain them and we would not cut service level. Since I have been here, we have eliminated a few playgrounds. Carey Park is the primary example. There are eight individual playgrounds in Carey Park. One of them we've already eliminated. That's the one inside Salt City Splash. My long-term goal is to get to four in Carey Park, so eliminating half of the playgrounds."
Part of the issue is also that playground funding typically comes out of the general fund, so that competes with new trucks and new mowers and salaries and other overall parks priorities.