The contents of this page have been retired, but we retain a copy to keep a memory of the process of working with the City.
This page was sent to Brian Green, our park's new maintenance supervisor, on March 29 (a Monday). Two of the problems were addressed the next day (garbage and rink cleanup). Brian came to the park on Thursday and we thanked him for responding so promptly. It turned out that he had just got back from holidays and hadn't even read the e-mail! So some of the clean-up tasks had happened on their own. Then we cleaned up the dangerous trash around the playground ourselves on April 7, having not received an answer from the Parks Department about it. The rest of the problems are still there, sticking out like sore thumbs. We'll keep you posted as they're fixed.
On this page:
Dangerous Trash
Playground near fence
Sunday afternoon, March 28, 2004
The fence beside the playground was replaced last year. The scrap left over from demolishing the kids' cooking area (play) was left there. It has nails sticking up. The city-built playground has little trash in it but the sand pit play area has all this stuff. The sand pit play area is an official part of the playground, despite being a community initiative, and it's very very popular. But it has often been neglected by Parks Department trash pickers. Large sand-play areas are not an untested idea. Park staff might want to take note of the legendary parks superintendent Tommy Thomson's comments on their importance for children: Read more >>
Actions:
April 5: The playground looks even worse now, since a few warm days brought the kids out, and the trash is dispersed all over the sandpit area, and beyond. If the outside parks workers are too busy to clean this up, we'll call in extra recreation staff this week to address the problem.
April 7: We sent these pictures to the parks maintenance people but we never got an answer. So the recreation staff cleaned up the playground area themselves, removed the broken pieces of wood with exposed nails, raked up broken glass, etc. Now it's ready for play -- none too soon, since the playground had lots of kids in it after school today.
Garbage
Dufferin Grove Rinkhouse
Sunday afternoon, March 28, 2004
There's so much garbage because there's so much going on at the park. The trash you see is from the fixing of the compressors (Wednesday, Thursday, maybe Friday), the farmers' market (Thursday), Councillor Giambrone's Friday night supper with the Botswana delegation (Friday), and the OCAP lunch prior to their demonstration at the immigration jail (Saturday) and our efforts to pick up trash around the bake oven and in the native-species gardens (three big bags, Saturday). The seventh annual matzo bake for Passover was on Sunday but that garbage is still in the trash bins near the bake oven. Altogether there may have been about 800 people at these events (all of them were very well attended). Already by Friday evening the Botswanan delegation found this trash collection impressive.
Two choices:
1. reduce the amount of activities going on at the park or
2. increase the amount of trash pickup in response to the traffic.
We're hoping for the second option.
Actions:
April 5: The week after this was sent, the trash was picked up more often, and the pile didn't grow that big.
Repair
Fence to keep out the dogs
But the fence needs a bit of mending, and until then the dogs can get in there very well.
Playground rain shelter: fixed electrical outlet box
This is one of four lockable benches the Planning and Development Division's architect designed for our rain shelter. The benches were constructed in such a way that they would never accept a secure lock, only a flimsy one. (We tried to protest about this to the city's project supervisor, Peter Didiano, but he was pretty sure we were full of baloney, I think, and should keep our noses out of park business.) We finally nailed three of the bench-boxes shut but we can't do that with the fourth, which houses the electrical outlet (often used in the summer). The Parks Division carpenters have tried to fix the broken locks many times, always with the same flimsy replacement lock, and it's always broken again soon after. It seems to have become a game for the kids, and no wonder -- easy as pie.
Before
We were hoping that somebody wouldl redesign the benches and make it possible to secure them properly, before somebody got electrocuted....although (come to think of it) that would be one interesting way to deal with vandalism. Zap 'em.
Safety - Play Equipment
An ingenious way to cushion the bump at the slide.....
...but maybe a bit unsightly. The swings and the slide need more topping up with sand because they have developed deep ruts from so many little feet and bums. Kids get hurt, so someone has found a solution, but maybe fresh sand more often will be better.
Rink Cleanup
Cleaned up mats
It used to be that mothballing the rink was part of the Local 416 rink workers responsibility. That included rolling up the rubber mats where skaters walked, and storing them in the compressor room or the breezeway. When it wasn't done by late March, the rec staff did some of it. But they're on short staff now -- one worker four hours a day, with plenty to do elsewhere in the park. So we sent a request to the maintenance supervisor. Before he even got it, a maintenance worker came to the rink and cleaned up the area around the outside, including the mats, very thoroughly. Thank you, Roger!