The battle for Fort Findlay

FINDLAY — Findlay's release of rebuild plans for the Fort Findlay Playground has met with a considerable amount of pushback on social media, with residents circling the wagons around the miniature fort. The city released plans for the proposed $1.4 million rebuild of the playground earlier this month seeking public comment. The playground, a childhood staple for many city residents, requires upgrades and maintenance that aren't sustainable, according to city officials. To address public concerns, the city has released a video on its YouTube channel, Findlay Ohio, showing the master plan for improvements to Emory Adams Park, 1516 S. Blanchard St., which is expected to take several years. Replacing the Fort Findlay playground is the first step. "The playground is structurally sound and safe to be on, but some of the major structural components are showing deterioration," said City Engineer Jeremy Kalb. "A number of the main columns are showing signs of deterioration in the middle of the columns, as well as at the base and underground." Kalb said some of the columns and support joists are showing signs of excessive wear and tear, including excessive cracking, splintering and delamination. "Over the past couple of years the Parks Department has added and/or replaced support joists to ensure that the playground could remain structurally sound and open to the public," he said. "If one of the main columns experiences a failure or break, they cannot be replaced due to the location and load that is on the pole. To replace one of the main structural columns a large section of the fort would need to be disassembled so that the old pole could be removed and a new pole could be drilled," Kalb said. He said the playground would then have to be closed for an extended amount of time, and due to age and condition, some of the wood joists may not hold, which would require a full replacement. The new design shows a modern, open park space with playground equipment gated by fencing designed to give it the look of a wooden fort, but the miniature wooden fort, which afforded children lots of room to climb, explore and hide, will be gone. The open space provides for increased sightlines for safety and accessibility for all, according to city officials. Designed by Human Nature, Inc., a landscape architecture and environmental planning group based in Cincinnati, the company was paid $142,600 for the full project design. The playground at Emory Adams Park, 1516 S. Blanchard St., opened to a packed house of children in April 2001. The 20,000-square-foot playground cost about $200,000 to build 20 years ago and was considered state-of-the-art for municipal playgrounds. It was constructed over six days by more than 2,000 volunteers. The miniature fort was built based on the ideas of area schoolchildren. Architect Barry Segal, of Leathers and Associates, Ithaca, New York, and other volunteers, visited the schools to gather ideas for the park. Seagal had designed hundreds of playgrounds throughout the United States by that time. Legislation asking Findlay City Council to appropriate about $600,000 to purchase new playground equipment for the playground was pulled from the agenda in July to allow for public feedback on the plan. There is a five to seven-month lead time for delivery of the playground equipment. The goal is to start construction in the spring. A community input survey, asking residents to prioritize different park features, is now available on the city's website at www.findlayohio.gov and will be open until Aug. 23.