The City of Castlegar has closed a portion of the Kinsmen Park playground due to safety concerns.
The city says that while completing a comprehensive annual inspection, staff noted concerns on a portion of the playground at 910 2nd Street.
That portion of the park has been fenced and closed as a precaution, the city said in a news release.
“Public safety, especially when thinking about children, is always our top priority,” operations manager Samuel Shine said in a release.
“It is unfortunate to close a portion of the play area with the weather warming up but we are already looking at solutions and hope to have a long-term plan in place later this spring.”
City council received a more detailed explanation from Shine at their meeting Monday. He said the inspection was done by their parks forewoman, who recently completed her CSA-approved certification.
The forma inspection includes assessment of any safety concerns, particularly those that might result in injury. Those hazards are sorted into Class A, B, and C.
The Kinsmen playground structure was found to have three Class A hazards, including missing guard rails on the high platforms that could cause a risk of falling, a ground surface that was too hard, and the possibility of getting caught on two of the slides, in part due to vandalism that caused some sharp edges.
The equipment is believed to be several decades old.
“This may not be an easy thing to remedy, which is a shame,” Mayor Kirk Duff said. “A lot of kids use that park.” He added that he would be “anxious” to hear the city’s recommendations.
City manager Chris Barlow noted that inspection requirements change all the time, and since their parks forewoman went through the latest training prior to the inspection, she was able to evaluate the structure against the newest criteria.
Barlow said any cost implications would be brought to council.
The rest of the Kinsmen Park remains open, including the remaining jungle gym, swings, large open green space, and picnic tables. The city expects the washrooms to open by mid-April and the splash park to be operating before the May long weekend.
