THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220279
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
At Kids Cove in Virginia Beach and Fort Fun in Newport News, play's the thing.
At Chesapeake's Fun Forest, a year in the planning, organizers say the show must go on.
Hampton Roads' wooden mega-playgrounds will remain as they are, even as Fairfax County brings the curtain down on 25 similar structures, citing liability and safety concerns.
``We have no aspirations of doing that,'' said Valerie King, parks district supervisor in Virginia Beach. ``We have staff at the park that inspect it daily. It's one of the nicest things that's happened in our park system.''
Kids Cove, Fort Fun and Fun Forest were all designed by Leathers and Associates. The New York company gained nationwide fame by allowing local schoolchildren to help design their own playgrounds, then recruiting community volunteers and donations to build the structures in a week or less.
A community committee helps maintain Kids Cove, a 2-year-old wooden maze of towers, ramps and bridges at the foot of Mount Trashmore. It draws as many as 22 school buses a day, King said, and 124,000 kids a year.
``Save some fun for the kids,'' she said. ``As parents, we need these playgrounds for sanity. It's good for everybody.''
Fairfax County sees its 15-year-old playgrounds in a different light. Too much maintenance, the county said. The wooden structures are being replaced by prefab plastic and metal that some parents complain is not child-friendly.
Fort Fun, at the Peninsula end of the James River Bridge, has never had that problem since it opened in May 1992.
Michael Poplawski, administrator of parks for Newport News, said it attracted 100,000 kids the first year. That much use, he said, prompts him to take his own kids there early in the mornings, before the crowd arrives.
``Most of our maintenance has been replacement here and there of strap swings that wore down to metal because of use,'' Poplawski said. ``It was the first time in my life that I saw the plastic worn down by all those little bottoms.''
Fairfax County's playgrounds suffered from a variety of ills, he added. They are 15 years old, which is about the normal lifespan of a playground, Poplawski said. But preservatives, which can nearly double the lifespan of wood, have become more widely used since those playgrounds were built, and design changes have added safety features. Replacement of pieces as they wear out will also extend use, he said.
``I can't be too pessimistic yet,'' he said. ``Even if the thing wore out in 15 years, with as much positive public feedback as we've had, we'd probably rebuild.''
Every time Fairfax County's woes come to light, Mary C. Haddad calls Leathers and Associates. Each time, said the organizer of Fun Forest, she is reassured that Chesapeake is doing the right thing.
``We keep in touch with the Fairfax situation,'' she said. ``We found that the Leather projects that are in question in Fairfax, they were overwhelmed by the maintenance of them.''
Fairfax opened a large number of wooden playgrounds at the same time, she said, and maintenance was overwhelming. By contrast, there are only two in Hampton Roads, with another one under construction at Chesapeake City Park. Maintenance at each includes a crew of volunteers applying wood preservatives once or twice a year.
Fun Forest will be the largest so far, an area the size of two football fields. Volunteers will put it together May 2 through 7.
``It's gonna be a terrific playground,'' Haddad said. ``It's good, it's good.'' ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff color photos
Children play at Kids Cove at Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. The
2-year-old playground draws as many as 22 school buses a day, and
124,000 kids a year.
Children manage to have fun at Kids Cove despite the rules.
by CNB