Crews from Seattle Parks and Recreation have removed the parcourse from Salmon Bay Park for safety reasons. Dewey Potter with the Parks Department tells us that the posts and boards had rotted on some of the equipment. The course will be replaced “as soon as possible” she tells us.
Parcourse removed from Salmon Bay Park
I am suspicious of Dewey Potter’s explanation of why the parcourse was removed. I used the course nearly every day, and never noticed the so-called rotting. I went over to use it when the crews were there tearing it down. They pretty much agreed that it didn’t make sense, and suspected maybe the old fashioned design (wood and steel) was just a liability. What a shame that would be, if true. The crew had no warning, and were told to take it down the day prior. I inspected the pile of wood, and it looked fine, and was well anchored into the ground with a ton of cement – built to last. Furthermore, they hauled off all the steel bars for re-cycle. There was nothing wrong with them, and could have easily been re-used. If they were serious about addressing a rotting timber issue, they could have replaced a few pieces of lumber here and there and saved the tax-payers the cost of a complete re-do, landscaping and all. Is this just a jobs program? It sure seems like a waste of the money we are being taxed through the Park’s Levy.
thanks for following up, swedes! i agree with caws, the parcourse was just fine. rather than replace it, they should have augmented it with a tredmill, a stairclimber, a roof, and some free weights. then i’d have everything i need within 2 blocks of the house.
I think the new parcourse needs to be more parkour.
My husband was there when they were removing it and was told it was “not to code.” He asked if he could have it and they said, nope, they were going to destroy it.