Lackawanna council hears complaints about Center Street playground hours, fencing after vandalism

Lackawanna City Council members discussed limited operational hours and fenced access at the Center Street playground during their April 21 regular meeting, after a council member submitted a written request raising concerns that the playground is effectively unusable when the splash pad is closed.

The council received the submission and voted to "receive and file" the matter, taking no immediate policy action. The motion was made and seconded during the meeting and carried 4-0.

The submitter, identified in the record as a council member, read a letter dated April 16 that said in part: "Approximately 1,400,000.0 was spent on a playground that only operates roughly 3 months out of the year." The letter urged the council to seek solutions so children could use the playground outside splash-pad hours.

Parks staff described a sequence of vandalism and design constraints that led to the current arrangement. The Parks and Recreation Director said city crews left the area open for the first three days after opening but "that’s when all that damage happened just within the first 3 days. So then we had to make the decision…we need to hire employees to watch it and just can't leave it open." The director also explained that because of the way concrete was poured and pipes run under the surface, the city was unable to put a separate fence around only the splash pad and instead enclosed the whole play area.

Speakers at the meeting raised possible options discussed on the record, including installing additional playground equipment outside the fenced area, doing concrete and ADA-compliant sidewalk work to add access points, increasing staffing to extend hours, and the use of cameras. A resident who spoke during the discussion noted enforcement limits and vandalism history, saying the city must balance access with replacement and repair costs.

Council and staff clarified several operational details on the record: the city charter, as cited during the meeting, lists park season dates from May 1 to Oct. 31; splash-pad staffing and posted summer hours were described as roughly 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and parks staff confirmed cameras had limited deterrent effect in prior incidents. Park staff also said drawings and options from a playground vendor (Parkitects) exist for adding equipment adjacent to the fenced area but would require additional concrete work and budgeting.

The council did not adopt any ordinance or new funding at the meeting. Instead, after the discussion the item was formally received and filed. No date for follow-up or further staff action was set in the public record during the session.

Why it matters: the playground sits behind a fence tied to how the splash pad was constructed and staffed; the city recorded roughly $1.4 million in project costs and parents and council members said limited access leaves children unable to use the facility for much of the year.

The council’s receipt-and-file vote leaves the options discussed — adding off-site equipment, modifying sidewalks, hiring additional attendants, or revisiting fencing design — as possible next steps that would require staff study, design work and likely budgeting decisions before any change could be implemented.