By KRISTIE LINDEN
When a city resident posted photos of the muddy and unkempt play area at Monessen’s City Park this week, the long-neglected spot got some quick attention.
Patty Arnold, a lifelong Monessen resident who often walks the track at City Park, noticed the play area was in really bad shape and snapped some photos to post on Facebook.
The ground underneath the play areas, including interactive displays, swings and sliding boards, was bare and muddy and the weed-blocking materials were an exposed and wrinkled mess.
Arnold said the play area has been in bad shape for years and she rarely sees children playing there.
“I wanted to take my grandkids there and it wasn’t safe,” Arnold said. “You go to the parks in other towns and they have the rubber matting down. I was surprised the guys who take care of the park, who do the mowing, didn’t see it and do something about it.”
When she posted the photos, Councilman Tony Orzechowski, who is in charge of parks and recreation, reached out to her immediately.
“I called Rodney (Freeman) at the maintenance shed and he knew about it and they already had a truck load of mulch there and they were putting it down,” Orzechowski said. “I don’t know why this wasn’t reported earlier, I can’t believe it happened overnight.”
Arnold said it has been a mess with no mulch under the equipment for years, and a report sent out by city Administrator John Harhai confirms that.
According to Harhai, the play areas hadn’t been mulched for at least six years, and the public works department began setting up plans to mulch it two weeks before the photos were taken.
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