COLUMBUS, Ohio — A city playground in north Columbus was mistakenly demolished earlier this week by a contractor who was supposed to remove a playground at a nearby elementary school.
The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department said that a Columbus City Schools contractor was working on replacing a preschool playground at the Weinland Park Elementary School property, but “inadvertently demolished” the city park’s playground instead. The city's playground was located near the school's property and was close to the preschool playground.
“The contractor has taken full responsibility and is replacing it with a brand-new playground at their cost,” the department said in a statement. “We will oversee the project to ensure it stays on track and that we’re aware of the progress.”
A Columbus City Schools spokesperson said that they were told it would take about two months to be replaced due to lead time on getting the larger playground equipment.
Tanya Long, civic president of Weinland Park Community Civic Association, said “Unfortunately, this happened just in time for summer break and in the midst of our planning the annual festival. The community is bewildered and curious hoping they replace what we originally had or better. We hope that they ask our input and we urge the construction company to put up safety measures around the now big muddy hole in our park.”
Planning for the Weinland Park Festival is set to take place on June 13. A special event application was submitted to the city for the annual festival, which the city confirmed.
A comment was posted on the application, reading: “Just wanted to make sure that you are aware that the playground was torn down by contractors for the school. We are hopeful this will be remedied before your event. However please keep in mind that there could be some impact."