Playground wins support from city

The former Early Childhood Center playground received its strongest display of support from Creston officials as the city council voted to begin negotiating with the school on acquiring the popular playground.

Negotiations will be done between the district and the city representatives of administrator Mike Taylor and the parks and recreation board. The board made their recommendation for the city to acquire the playground in some capacity during Tuesday’s meeting.

Although bids are open for the playground and other features of the former ECC building, including the nearby bus barn, the school district has said the best option for the playground is to keep its status as a community fixture, with demolition only being considered as a “last resort.”

Discussions between Superintendent Deron Stender and Taylor outlined key concerns from the city in regards to acquiring the playground, mostly within the maintenance and equipment costs.

When looking at annual upkeep, Stender’s high-end estimate measured an annual cost of $2,000 for maintaining the playground’s condition. Stender said the equipment requires little maintenance and is expected to last over the next 20 years, along with new and durable fencing.

Stender’s communication with Taylor provided three options where the park could function under city purview. Each option depends on which entity would be providing the maintenance costs.

The first would require the city to designate the playground as a civic park, partnering with community organizations to support the annual maintenance costs. Stender listed the Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis and Elks clubs as potentially interested.

Another option would be completely transferring the park to the city, with Creston maintaining the playground as a public asset. Funds for maintenance would come from the city’s parks and recreation budget.

Finally, the annual costs of upkeep for the park could be shared between Creston and the school district with the property transferred to the city. Stender spoke on this option during a visit to the parks and rec board and was in favor of the shared option, lowering the financial burden on both entities.

John Kawa, president of the parks and rec board, said it would be disappointing if the city were to pass on obtaining ownership of the park and restated the playground was the best park in Creston.

“I went there again today, when there was no snow on it, and it’s unbelievable,” Kawa said, speaking to the city council. “Nice setup. To tear that down would be a damn shame.”

The consensus of city council members shared their support for the playground as a fixture of the community. Taylor said it would be “criminal” to not acquire the playground.

“It’s the nicest playground in town,” Taylor said. “I live over that way; it gets a lot of use.”

Councilmember Rich Madison said he’d be open to the acquisition as long as the school district parcels the playground and disconnects any attachment to the former ECC building.

Councilmember Jen Worisek was hesitant on the acquisition, preferring the city to wait until the school district stops looking for bids to make any official offer for the playground.

Worried about the district’s financial preparation, Worisek said it would be difficult to judge the district’s commitment to the playground. When the vote passed, Worisek was the only vote against the motion.

“I just wish we would kind of wait until we have more questions answered from the school,” Worisek said.