Reactions to the Panhandle Playground's "D" grade

Readers made several comments on last week's post about the Panhandle Playground receiving a "D" on a city-wide playground report card. There was general acceptance of the D grade, basically because the playground was both out-of-date and worn out. The worn-out qualities were observed in different ways: the mats are worn (with holes below the swings where the kids feet touch the ground); the wood is worn and is marked as containing arsenic. The out-of-date design was seen in the overabundance of sand and lack of safe running surface; and the play structures don't appeal to kids of different ages. Parents did appreciate the recent removal of the bushes, but still want the playground kept cleaner.

A web search turned up the following notes from a Rec and Park Commission meeting. So the playground's 10-year anniversary is just 10 days away! What, by the way, is Diablo Elementary School?

On May 1, 2000 Mayor Willie Brown came out to the "Saturn" playground in the panhandle for the long awaited dedication of the renovated area. Audree Jones-Taylor and Dan McKenna from the Department joined him. The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Coalition hosted the event. Nearly 75 children from the nearby Diablo Elementary School attended the event. This was the youths annual spring celebration, so they were more than ready to inaugurate the newly renovated play area.

I also asked parents to comment on access issues, and they mentioned the poor conditions of the south path. Parents felt caught with no good options because it's difficult to push a stroller on the bumpy south path but the north path is crowded with lots of cyclists. In addition to advocating for a playground upgrade, community members may also need to organize around re-surfacing the south path and upgrading the multi-use path.