Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 05/02) - Residents along Sissons Court say a playground located there is an accident waiting to happen.

"When an accident happens, it's going to be bad," predicts Teena Lantz, a mother of two young children. "That's what I think."

Teena Lantz, with her children Jonathan and Amy, says it's too dangerous to let them play at the Sissons Court playground. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

Lantz says when her family moved into the Yellowknife Housing unit three years ago, she took one look at the playground and decided she would never let her children play there as long as it remained the way it is.

Now that her son Jonathan, 4, is growing older and bolder, she fears a few distracted moments on her part may be all that it takes for her son to lead himself into danger.

"I'm responsible for my kids but if they're given something unsafe and they're drawn to it..." Lantz wonders. "I watch them 24/7, but one (child) goes this way, and the other goes this way."

Her other child, Amy, just turned three.

Her neighbour, Anna Koonark, agrees. She also has two young children.

"If I'm not around, they'll play there," says Koonark.

Yellowknifer accompanied the Lantz family to the playground and found that the jungle gym contained numerous potential hazards.

Besides countless splinters along its wooden pilings, almost all the bolts holding it together have been damaged. Some of them with dangerous looking jagged, metal edges where the bolts stick out of the wood.

Broken swings remain on scene

The tire swing is broken, and so are two other swing sets. The beam that holds the tire swing -- approximately two metres high in the air -- has only one loose metal railing still standing to prevent children from falling. It is also festooned with more broken bolts, has one large rusty nail jutting out from it.

Monkey bars lead up to the beam, under which a wooden plank has been nailed to it. A hole in the plank is about the size of a child's foot.

Another resident, who did not wish to be identified, says the sand lot around the playground is a minefield of broken glass.

"My son has yet to be in that playground because of the condition of it," the woman says. "It's the only playground really allowed for them."

Down the hill and on nearby Lanky Court are two brand new jungle gyms, complete with slides and swing sets. All made from state of the art plastic and metal. Parents on Sissons Court say residents adjoining these two playgrounds regularly chase their children off when they attempt to play there.

Both of these playgrounds are property of the federal government.

"They kick them out," says Lantz. "As soon as the kids are left alone down there, they kick them out."

Lantz says she cannot understand why the Yellowknife Housing Authority, which is funded by the territorial government, does not provide a proper playground at Sissons Court, considering that it is public housing for families only. She says she has called the housing authority in the past, asking them to take a look at the playground, but has only seen employees picking up garbage there so far.

She adds that residents have considered drafting a petition for the housing authority to do something about the park.

"I think the important thing is to get the park down first," says Lantz.

"I don't want to be the lady that complains all the time, but I think it's legit."

Jim White, the Yellowknife Housing Authority CEO, said after his office was contacted by Yellowknifer, he went to take a look at the playground for himself. He says there is not enough money to replace it. The Yellowknife Housing Authority only has a capital spending budget of $60,000 annually. But he did say his office plans to start making repairs this week. White believes the playground is about eight years old.

"Most of the repairs we can do will take our employees time, rather than actual capital output, so we can take care of that part," says White. "But replacement costs, these things cost thousands of dollars.