Popular Harford County playground temporarily closes for possible safety hazard repairs
A popular Harford County playground has temporarily closed after inspectors found possible safety hazards in the equipment.
Annie's Playground, in Fallston, is wrapped in caution tape with a sign telling visitors the playground is closed as the county's parks and recreation department works on repairs.
Harford County officials say the closure is precautionary but necessary to make sure no child gets hurt.
Parks and Rec. Director Paul Magness told WJZ that at least 11 stress fractures were discovered on different pieces of playground equipment during a routine safety check.
Pictures and reports were sent to the playground manufacturer, Play By Design who will decide the best way to move forward.
Magness says he hopes to have the playground repaired and reopened within the next few weeks.
"If our maintenance staff raises a question to me, I think in terms of, would I let my son Ben play on the playground? And if the answer is, 'Well, not until we get it checked out,' then I wouldn't leave it for anybody else to use as well," Magness said.
Playground renovations
The playground was initially built back in 2006 in memory of Annie Cumpston, a 6-year-old girl who was hit and killed by a drunk driver while leaving the circus with her family. The playground, which went under renovation in 2023, has seen changes over the past 19 years, including a switch from wooden structures to plastic.
"They had renovations done fairly recently within the past few years, so to see there were already circumstances where there were issues with the equipment, in terms of safety so quickly, it kind of made me think, 'Wow, what happened here? What's being used? Why did this happen so quickly?'" said parent Robin Lien.
"Precautionary closure"
With temperatures getting warmer, including next week with the weather expected to be in the 70s, parents hope the playground will be reopened sooner rather than later.
Magness ensures the closure is precautionary, which does ease some concerns.
"I think that sometimes it takes somebody getting hurt really bad in order for somebody to do something about it, so I think they're finally taking some initiative," said parent Brittany Bullock.
Magness says the goal is to make sure this community gathering point remains a safe and happy place as it continues to evolve for many years to come.
"The old playground had an elephant slide, we kept the elephant slide," Magness said. "The old playground had a dragon slide, we kept the dragon slide. So it helped keep the spirit of Annie here at the playground.
