Parks and Rec to begin work on replacing playground surfacing due to June flooding

The Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department is asking families to be patient as it works through the process of replacing the sand at several of its playgrounds affected by the flooding in June.

The department is currently waiting on delivery of 1,400 yards of engineered wood fiber that it hopes will be delivered this week and will be used throughout the parks impacted. Work could begin as soon as this week depending on the shipment.

Parks and Rec is replacing the material primarily due to possible contaminants and debris that could have been left behind by receding floodwaters.

“Essentially, we don’t know what is in the flood water,” said Director Jason Sehon. “It’s safety surfacing for playgrounds. You can assume kids are climbing around, falling and crawling in the sand. We’re just being proactively safe.

In total, seven playgrounds that were in the flooded areas are currently inaccessible with caution tape around the equipment that should not be used. At Bandshell Park fencing is being utilized to deter people from using the equipment until the work is completed.

Once material is in, work will begin at the higher traffic areas like Bandshell Park and work their way down. Some of these parks will start reopening next week.

Sehon said he was unsure how much it would cost to replace all of the surfacing at the seven parks, but added that much of the cost is likely to be absorbed by disaster declaration funding, which Mower County is currently working on.

“A good portion of these funds will be covered outside of city funds,” he said.

Even though the driving reason for replacing the surfacing is flood related, Sehon said there are other benefits that will come from using this new material, which is a mulch created from wood fibers.

“It’s actually more cost efficient for the city, but more importantly it’s a better rated fall zone,” Sehon said. “This surfacing is going to be more adaptive to those falls.”

He added that using this material is compliant with the American with Disabilities Act and will make it easier to utilize for those with disabilities that include wheelchairs.

Despite the flooding requiring the work on the surfaces, Sehon said that the waters didn’t damage any of the equipment at the parks.

In the meantime, as work begins, Sehon said there are 10 usable playgrounds available to families who want to get some time outside. Those include:

• Lions Park (main playground area)

• Kaufman Park

• South Grove Park

• Sherman Park

• Shirley Theel Park

• Bustad Park

• Decker Park

• Galloway Park

• Todd Park

• Orchard Creek Park

“Safety is number one for us so that’s our first thought process for that,” Sehon said, urging people that if equipment has caution tape around it to stay off of it. “We have several other playgrounds available.

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