City Invests in Kid Safety, Several Playgrounds Closed

Lake Stevens’ new Parks Department targets safety upgrades ahead of a March 2 public meeting on playground closures.

Picture a dystopian hellscape of forgotten steel deathtraps carpeted with broken glass, policed by rabid mongrels and framed by shuffling armies of fent zombies. Rusty barrels filled with trash fires backlight a stark scene: children grimly careening off warped slides into puddles of unknown liquid… as other kids fall through rotten platforms, disappearing forever into dark crevices below.

As you hold that image in your mind, let me tell you what you’ve just become:

A commenter on NextDoor after finding out that a few playgrounds were closed pending upgrades last week.

Now get rid of all that crap because it’s nonsense. Here’s the real story:

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LAKE STEVENS - The Lake Stevens Parks and Recreation Department recently completed a thorough safety check of exiting City playground assets — some of which are fairly new City properties, tucked deep in the recesses of massive Lake Stevens developments.

And now, after identifying a few areas of opportunity in the aforementioned play areas, Parks Director Sarah Garceau is asking kids and parents to slow their roll for a bit while playgrounds are closed and investments in safety are implemented.

“It is always a tough decision to shut down a playground, especially several of them at the same time,” says Parks and Recreation Director Sarah Garceau.

As the City continues to grow by leaps and bounds, recent annexations have led to a growing public inventory of postage stamp playgrounds that many residents don’t even know exist — but the City has taken over responsibility for maintaining.

Picture the type of thing that developers throw here-or-there around a couple-hundred-house project, and you’ll have the right idea for today’s topic.

In every case, the playgrounds we visited - even if closed for repairs - seemed hearty, well-looked after and often framed by impressive settings. Photo by KTH/J425.

Garceau noted that the playgrounds in need of repair are as much as a quarter century old, smaller in size and located in residential neighborhoods (including The Reserve and Jake’s Place). Parks closed five of these playgrounds February 22, citing safety concerns.

“Children’s safety is extremely important,” she said succinctly.