The Lansing Village Community Park on Uptown Road is getting a new play structure this summer, after Superintendent of Public Works John Courtney told Village trustees last week that the existing structure is unsafe.  Village Trustee Ronny Hardaway says the old play structure will be removed within the next few weeks, and Village officials expect a new play structure, expected to cost over $30,000, to be installed next Spring or early summer.

"I think it's a severe liability to leave it up," Courtney told Trustees at their August 15th meeting.  "It's bittersweet -- we hate so see anything go without some kind of a replacement.  We didn't have anything in the budget, though."

Families won't have to wait until next summer for a playground in the park.  Another play structure is at Dankert Park, just across the street.  Courtney noted that part of the plan when building Dankert Park was that the older park would be phased out.  Officials agreed they want to keep the old park.

"We ought to make sure there is a replacement of some sort," said Mayor Donald Hartill.  It is an important asset."


The two parks have very different atmospheres, with Dankert Park more open and with more features, including a soccer field and pavilion, and the Community Park more of a sheltered space with shade trees and geared more toward small children.

The wooden play structure has decayed to the point where Courtney said it has become a hazard.  Cracks have developed around the hand rails and there is a danger of children getting slivers.  He noted that some pressured wood products contain arsenic and recommended officials either erect a barrier to the structure or entirely remove it.  At the same time metal spikes and a pipe that stick out from the ground will be removed.

"There was an old above-ground water faucet pipe that will be capped off below ground," Hardaway says.  "We also had some rebar spikes protruding from the Community Park wooden edging pieces.  Those spikes have been driven down to be even with the current edging surface for better safety until the old playground equipment is removed."


The money will be diverted from a new park on a parcel between Dart and Northwoods Roads.  That park will have the same features as Dankert park, and preliminary clearing work has already begun.  Hardaway says between $30,000 and $35,000 for the new play structure will be diverted from money that would have been spent on infrastructure for the new park this year.  He says that will give officials time to choose equipment that meets state safety requirements for 5 to 12 year-olds.

"We are in the process of evaluating the playground-equipment vendors on the current NYS-bid contractors list," he says.  "We have not chosen equipment, yet, but we hope to match as much of the old equipment structure as possible (slides, stairways, platforms, climbing bars, and swings).  We plan to install new benches, but the replacement benches might not be installed until the next budget cycle."

In a statement Tuesday village officials said that some a few smaller trees will be removed to accommodate the new structure but the larger oaks will remain to provide shade.  Officials hope the DPW will be able to schedule the tear-down of the old playground equipment within the next few weeks.  Courtney said he had asked a fencing company for an estimate on repairs to the park's chain link fence.  He noted that his small Department of Public Works (DPW) is stretched thin, so must fit work on the parks in between the road construction and plowing seasons.  Hardaway says that diverting the money now will enable the Village to order and take delivery of the new equipment within about three months.  That will mean it will be available as soon as the DPW has time to install it.

"It will take 2 to 3 months to choose, order and have the new equipment delivered – at least," he says.  "This will be pushing up against the Fall (pre-Winter) work by the DPW.  We would like to have the new equipment installed this Fall, but the more likely scenario is next Spring or early Summer."

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