Columbus playground mistakenly torn down, contractor agrees to pay for replacement

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The unplanned demolition of a popular playground at a Columbus park was a mistake.

The playground in the middle of Weinland Park was torn down earlier this week. Neighbors were confused and surprised by what happened. They said the playground was in good shape and now it’s gone.

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“Bewilderment, we don’t know what we’re going to do. There’s a whole playground missing right at the start of summer,” said Tanya Long, President of the Weinland Park Civic Association.

She said she got a lot of questions about what happened.

“Just a debacle, that’s the best word I can say,” Long said.

Planned work is going on at the playground of a preschool which is right next to the park. The contractor for that project accidentally demolished the park’s playground too, according to a spokesperson for Columbus City Schools.

“It’s a little shocking to hear that it was just an accident,” said Jennifer Smither.

Smither was planning on having her daughter’s birthday party at the park this weekend.

“In the scheme of things no one was physically hurt, a few people were disappointed and we’ll get past it but it does make you just wonder how does something like this happen,” Smither said.

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A representative for Columbus Recreation and Parks said the contractor has taken full responsibility and will be paying for a brand-new playground. The project will likely take several months, according to CRPD.

“It was good the construction company took responsibility, I think it’s great they’re going to replace it, I would hope it would be sooner than later and again that they would consult us on what we want, fixing it would be their apology to us,” Long said.

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