NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y (WKBW) — Jayne Park Playground on Cayuga Island in Niagara Falls is brand new. The structure itself is complete, but a mess from the construction remains.
Neighbors reached out to 7 Eyewitness News to try and get some answers on why mounds of rocks and dirt, a wooden board with nails sticking out, and plastic playground pellets were left everywhere for months.
"The community just wants the dirt hauled away...we just want the playground fixed so the kids can enjoy it," Jarrod Glynn a neighbor of Cayuga Island said.
The playground was funded with grants from the Niagara Falls Community Development Department. The playground cost $200,000 to restore with a ropes course for 5-12 year-olds and a slide play area for 2-5 year-olds. The project took almost a year to complete.
"This has been the longest pregnancy of getting a playground off the ground", Brigitte Shackleton, another concerned neighbor said. "Finish it up... and then maintain it!"
Seth Piccirillo, Director of the Niagara Falls Community Development Department says the contractor still has to do testing on the soil before the project is completely done. Piccirillo says the contractor will be doing the tests in the next two days and then it's the contractor's job to clean up the left over mess.
"The city wants this moved immediately so the community that helped plan this playground can enjoy it." Piccirillo said. "The next tests are soil testing in the next two days and then actual removal of debris so the playground will be turned over to functional use."
Piccirillo adds the contractor has not been paid in full, and won't be until the mess is picked up. Neighbors say they just want the park to be fully ready to use for the beautiful summer months.
"They sited some issues with having someone to come and do the removal, finding a company to come and do the removal has been the big sticking point," Piccirillo explained. "But that doesn't matter to us, it still needs to get done. It is not something the city is going to pay for, the contractor has to do it per their agreement."
