About 35 neighbors along with the park superintendent and operations manager met tonight at the playground. Many people expressed the desire to keep both the swings and the slide. The option being discussed at this point is the creation of two zones. One zone would have the lower playground equipment with gravel below. The other zone would have the taller playground equipment and would have tire mulch or wood chips. Almost everyone seemed to prefer the wood chips. 

However, the city is against using wood chips. They explained that the chips hold moisture, grow mold, weeds grow through it, and it freezes which makes a hard surface. Additionally, wood chips require much more maintenance than tire mulch making it a more expensive option.

Our alderperson, Marsha Rummel and many others would like to change the city's thoughts on the use of wood chips. Wood chips are nontoxic and don't smell. Playground use goes down when tire mulch is installed. People seek out parks that still have gravel or wood chips. A petition requesting that the City change it's policy on the use of tire mulch was signed by most at the meeting.

  A committee will look at possible new playground equipment to add to whatever changes are made to the ground cover. The small swing and slide will have to be replaced because once they are pulled out of the ground they can't be reused. We'll post links on this site to show possible equipment choices. We have until mid-February to make a solid plan.

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I am a neighbor who has enjoyed our playground since my 7 year old was a baby.  It is a good life for a stay-at-home dad to play in a field of little smooth pebbles under big trees by the lake with his child. The gravel itself  was a main attraction for us when my child was a toddler. Digging, piling, sorting rocks by color, all that stuff. 
So when I saw 2 city workers digging the gravel up on a recent sunny afternoon, I could not help but strike up a conversation. "The bobcat should be here anytime to finish removing these rocks, the city wants tires here" one guy with a shovel in hand explained. I made some calls that afternoon and started this website while another neighbor was already putting up signs, going door to door and generally making his point  known. The city kindly stopped so we can talk about it.
Rubber trumps rocks when it comes to catching falling kids, drunk teenagers, you name it. Federal safety rules require tire mulch or wood chips if fall heights exceed 5'. (read here) . But a bit of folk wisdom tells me to not  set my baby down on old tires, even if it has a polyurethane finish to prevent oxidation and is somehow dyed brown to look pretty.(more on concerns here)
We live by the social truths of our country. In our short-term thinking money-driven culture, toxic chemicals are seen by too many as more a nuisance than a health hazard. The EPA says go for it, while the Swedish equivalent, KEMI ruled against shredded tires on playgrounds.(this link from my Swedish neighbor, read #3).  But then if Madison were in Sweden, the city would not have the fear of lawsuits affecting their thinking. I say let's see the city as our friend and do the best we can given our choices. Maybe we can also use this time to raise money and add cool stuff to the playground.