Dear Editor:
Makes me heartsick to see it. All that open, green space gone for a smattering of ugly toys on top of pavement and rubber. I find it hard to believe that people with children require the destruction of a beautiful mixed use park for this unimaginative and narrow development.
Trisha Ristango
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Photo taken from outside the park (opposite view) since the new construction, which is ongoing. Submitted by Trisha Ristango.
If Temescal Creek Park looked like that top picture more than a handful of times per year, I might agree. The reality is that on a typical day it was filled with drug pushers, drug users, prostitutes, etc. Putting in new play equipment and a dog run should increase the community presence in the park and reduce or eliminate the criminal activities.
I do agree that the rubber surface is awful and I do not like the plastic play structures either. Wooden play structures over bark cover, as used at Aquatic Park in Berkeley, would have been more appropriate, but our City cannot seem to think about playgrounds without using this same plastic and rubber approach.
Overall, however, the community is going to be able to re-take its park from thugs, and this is good news.
How horrible for the community.
What do you mean horrible? Think of all the money saved on upkeep?
Such narrow shortsightedness.