HELENA — If you have children, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about their safety. When it comes to playgrounds, the city of Helena is concerned about children’s safety too.
There are 20 playgrounds in the city, and the Helena Parks, Recreation & Open Lands Department inspects each one.
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“The playgrounds—the kids love them, it’s a reason people come to the parks, so we want them to be safe,” Helena Parks Superintendent Patrick Marron said. “The last thing we want is for someone to get hurt on one of our playgrounds.”
Throughout the year, department staff inspect each playground about once each month. Inspection frequency ramps up in the summer, when playgrounds are more heavily used.
“When we have our seasonal staff, they will get there daily,” Marron said.
Playground inspections are detailed. Inspectors go through each play structure and piece of equipment to ensure all components are secure; they also check each bolt to make sure they’re tight. Inspectors look for and take note of any broken, cracked or bent equipment.
They also look at the play surfaces in the playgrounds, checking for things that could harm people, like broken glass and uneven ground.
“Sometimes it’s easy stuff like raking wood chips, other times it’s replacement of equipment,” Marron said.
Issues are noted on a form, then turned into work orders. If there are bigger problems, the equipment or structure may have to be removed and replaced.
During a recent inspection, Marron found a crack in the plastic of a piece of equipment at the Cherry Park playground. He said that it will likely require the replacement of the piece.
“That one’s probably anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000, and shipping will be expensive too because it’s a big piece,” Marron said, estimating it will probably take the piece about 8 weeks to arrive.
Parks staff can’t be at every playground all the time, so if you see an issue, call it in to the parks office at 406-447-8463.
