Yikes. Glad that the City is aware of it (even though they have not "acknowledged" it on this site).

just came out here today. their solution for fixing the broken bar on the monkey bars was to remove the monkey bars. i am going to assume that we are in a "budget crunch" so funds are not available to replace them? not pleased. huge waste. will find out who did it and why.

When they removed the monkey bars, they slung dirt all over the sidewalks but didn't care enough that people use them to clean up after themselves.

Possible scenario... maybe they are taking the monkey bars to fix them off site? Seems like that would be 10 times harder but perhaps the city just doesn't have a mobile welder. Though, they rent for very little an hour so... not sure.

Come on OKC!... Don't tell me there is not money in the budget to keep our Parks and playgrounds safe and usable for the kiddos... and yes, I agree with the comments above... the city should have acknowleged it and it should have been posted under repair if indeed it is. Sad to see this happen.

I am not going to say that safety wasn't a motive for taking them down... however, removing them seems extreme and I hesitate - lazy?

I am sure we could find someone to donate the time had effort to weld it.

Matt, we actually had someone. We had materials, equipment, and qualified welder willing to do it.

Here is what I was told by the Parks Department:

As I am certain you can understand, we would ask that members of the public not attempt to participate specifically in playground repair as we have individuals within our Department who are Certified Playground Inspectors. The coordinate the repairs and work both within our division, as well with other departments to coordinate repairs as necessary. Any and all repairs made must meet specific safety standards which they are qualified to assess.

And later...

I have been in touch with our Grounds Division. Here’s what I can tell you.

A service request was put in to the Grounds Division from the Action Center on 7/8. Per our Parks Maintenance section, it looks as if the Monkey Bars were repaired. At this juncture, they suspect this is another break, since the equipment is very old. A new work order has been put into place.

Again, I respect the need for it to be done safely. I don't want someone ducktaping something together and calling it good. The need for this to be done safely and correctly isn't my beef. It just seems to me like hands were thrown in the air and we gave up. Again though, I eagerly await more details from the Parks Department. I am confident a clear reply is forthcoming.

I do hope that it is repaired and not just replaced. Just seems so wasteful. And I understand the need for the public to not make the repairs themselves, but if someone qualified is willing to donate their time and skill, I would wish that the city would welcome that so that the playground equipment is made safe and usable in a short amount of time for the kids.

Great news! Jennifer says good and bad news but I just see good news here. This is the email I got this morning:

Hi Sid,

Well I have some good news and bad news for you.

Here’s the bad news first!

Given the age and condition of this specific playground, it has been decided that for safety purposes, replacement and re-weld of the current monkey bars in the Dolphin-Wharton playground will not be effective. As such, they were removed by Parks crews and will not be replaced. The equipment there is at least 25 years old, so has well exceeded its natural “shelf life” for playgrounds.

Now the good news. Dolphin-Wharton is one of several parks on list for a rehab over winter 2010-2011. In the next few months, the Parks Department will put out bids for new playground equipment for DW, as well as other parks in need of attention, and the new playground equipment will be installed and ready for play by Spring 2011.

If you all can bear with us for a few months, we’ll have new equipment ready for your community to play on by next Spring.

Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks very much for your note. It was certainly a nice surprise. It’s always great to see citizens engaged and active in their communities.

Jennifer Lindsey-McClintock
Public Information and Marketing Manager
Oklahoma City Parks & Recreation Department
Myriad Botanical Gardens * Civic Center Music Hall
Dir. (405) 297-3903 / Main (405) 297-3882

Oklahoma City recently launched a new mobil application tool called OKCGov, for reporting some of the most common code violations. All of the old concerns previously submitted using the SEE CLICK FIX application prior to 9/1/14 have been closed out. If the concern you reported has not already been addressed and is still a problem, please resubmit your concern using our new tool. Thank you.