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Vandals force closure of giant slide Safety netting cut down around tiers, leaving children in tears by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter Since the summer, the new aluminum slide that towers over the million-dollar Terra Nova Park playground has brought smiles to the faces of thousands of children and adults. But a series of attacks by vandals put a stop to all the fun when they cut away the safety netting that surrounds the four stacked platforms, forcing the City of Richmond to close the attraction for safety reasons. Park planner Kevin Connery said he couldn’t speculate why somebody would vandalize the structure in the first place, let alone do it repeatedly. “The first incident we had was at the end of the first weekend in December where the top net...which is eight metres above the ground, the safety net was fully cut,” Connery said. The tower and slide were shut down temporarily until the access route to the top deck was sealed. The majority of the tower was re-opened on Dec. 22 and remained open through the holidays. But the tower was struck again in the second week of January, Connery said, with the top deck’s netting cut away. The slide was again closed, and the city was about to make repairs, when on the following weekend, the netting surrounding the lower decks was cut away too. The city is now reviewing
whether to redesign the structure, which might not be ready to open to the public again until Easter. “There’s probably ways of minimizing our vulnerability... through the detailing,” said Connery, who noted the first bit of vandalism cost $500 to repair. He wouldn’t speculate on the cost of the rest of the repairs. “We had hoped, based on previous experience with this kind of treatment, that we wouldn’t be subject to (vandalism), that people wouldn’t be prone to wanting to cut it. But some body or some people are keen to do that...” Connery was hopeful a “design treatment” that’s more “robust” would deal with the vandalism issue in the future. During the slide’s first six months of existence, there were no vandalism issues, he said. “People respected it, and in fact, people really wanted to be a part of this tower.” City of Richmond’s Mike Redpath urged people to report to the RCMP any suspicious activity they might see. “This is a children’s playground and we’re trying to encourage creative play. I think it’s really upsetting when any of our playgrounds or play structures get damaged or vandalized in any way,” Redpath said. “This play environment is...very well used, and extremely busy.” With the design work and manufacturing that has to go into a new treatment for the playground, Connery said it could take a couple of months before the slide re-opens. “We don’t want to be too reactive, and just try and get it open and then have the same problem occur.”
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City spends $2.1 million on extras Surplus spending includes cash for city events, wifi, barn, upgrades by Matthew Hoekstra Staff Reporter
Martin van den Hemel photo City of Richmond park planner Kevin Connery takes a look at the damage to the new Terra Nova Park aluminum slide, where vandals cut away the safety netting on the upper decks, forcing its closure.
City council has crafted a shopping list of $2.1 million worth of items over and above the 2015 budgets, splurging the most on community events, wifi and a barn. On Monday council endorsed the spending, which includes $750,000 to support city events, including Ships to Shore, the Richmond Maritime Festival, Children’s Arts Festival, marketing for Richmond Days of Summer and a future multicultural block party. Another big-ticket item is a plan to roll out wireless Internet service across civic facilities. Spending for Phase 1 of the plan is $258,000, which will add wifi to fire halls, recreation centres, pools, arenas, heritage sites, parks and public spaces. Council will also spend $294,000 to fund construction of a 1,400-square-foot barn at the Sharing Farm in Terra Nova. The barn will replace a garage that was demolished in 2013. The cash comes from past budget surpluses, an account still flush with $4.8 million in extra funds—not including a yet-to-be-determined surplus from 2014, according to a staff report. See Page 7
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