photo by: Bremen Keasey

Play structures closed off at Park Hill #1 Park at 500 Oklahoma Street. The city had closed the structures this past week and they won't be able to replace them because of proposed budget cuts affecting the department.

Aging play structures in two neighborhood parks in Lawrence were closed off this week, and proposed budget cuts mean they will likely not be replaced for years, according to Parks and Recreation officials.

Four separate structures this week at Park Hill Park #1 and Chaparral Park were closed off with tape and “No Trespassing” or “Keep Out” signs. Luis Ruiz, the director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said those parks were slated to have their play structures removed and replaced, but that a proposed cut to the department means it has to hold back from replacing the structures now.

“We just don’t have the funding anymore,” Ruiz said. “That’s not to say three, five years down the line they can’t be (put in again).”

As the Journal-World has reported, the Parks and Recreation Department was one of the departments targeted for cuts in the city’s proposed 2025 budget. Among the proposed cuts was removing a fund that helped the department remove and replace aging structures.

An initial budget presentation had said that five parks — Clinton Outlet Park, Broken Arrow Park, Park Hill Park #1, Chaparral Park and McSwain Park — would eventually lose their playgrounds. The presentation also said that Clinton Outlet Park, Broken Arrow Park and Deerfield Park would eventually lose their shelters, and that Brook Creek Park would eventually lose its restroom.

Ruiz said that many of those structures were outdated, and that the news about the potential removal of structures — especially at neighborhood parks — “elicited a response” from residents.

As for this week’s closures, Ruiz said the structures at Park Hill #1 were “simply not safe.” The paint was peeling and the structures were there for “40 to 50 years” — Ruiz said those were probably “the worst” structures of all the ones slated for removal and replacement.

At the site of Park Hill #1, the swing set could be seen with no swings on it. Additionally, the slide had a buildup of something that looked like mold. At Chaparral Park, meanwhile, the swing set and another small structure were closed off. The swing set there also had no swings and had paint chipped off revealing the metal underneath.

Chaparral Park had another play structure that looked to be in good condition and was left open.