Carrboro seeks feedback on new park equipment

Carrboro children are one step closer to new slides and climbing walls, and parents have the chance to influence the features of that equipment.

The Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department is accepting community feedback through Friday on two options to replace the equipment at Baldwin Park, located on Broad Street.

Option A has a long, curvy slide with a stair-shaped climbing area. Option B has two smaller slides with an area resembling a rock-climbing wall.

Both options can be viewed online at www.townofcarrboro.org. Residents can comment via phone or e-mail. The department has been accepting feedback about both options since Monday.

Kokeita Miller, facilities administrator for the department, said she has received feedback from about 10 people. “More people seem to see features they appreciate about (option A),” she said. “Some are saying they like the climbing rock.”

Roslind Council, director of Carrboro Early School, located about a block from the park, said that while she is glad that the town is seeking input from the community, she is not pleased with either choice.

Council said the plans neither meet the needs of younger children nor are handicap-accessible.

“We need to go with equipment that is safe for all children to play on,” she said. “Now the park is handicap-accessible. To put a piece in that’s not — I think that’s kind of backward.”

The handicap access is also wonderful for children, she added.

Parks and Recreation is seeking feedback more than actual votes, Miller said. “When someone just says they like that, you don’t know why,” she said, adding that she hopes to receive comments. “You’re getting more information, not just ‘I like that piece.’

“We’re hoping to have the equipment installed in late March or early April,” Miller said.

She said the town has allotted $40,000 for the project. The existing 12-year-old equipment includes a tunnel, three slides and a tick-tack-toe game.

“It’s a dangerous piece,” Council said. “It has a place on it where children can fall off a ledge and drop about 6 feet to the ground.”

Some also have expressed concerns about crime at the park, but Council said the day care has never had trouble with crime.

“The police have been patrolling this area a pretty good amount,” Council said, adding that an officer watches the children play while the day care is at the park.

Carolyn Hutchinson, Carrboro police chief, said officers have been making “very diligent efforts” to ensure that drug dealers and other criminals stay away from the area.

Council said whenever day-care workers take children to the park, people who do not look like they should be there walk away.

“The more people (who) use the park, the more people who shouldn’t be there will leave,” she said. “The community needs to take ownership of the park.”

 

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