The Eaton Elementary School Playground: Now You See It, Now You Don’t
City officials, including Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, broke ground on the new Eaton Elementary School playground on June 1 – a $1.6 million renovation project that is to be completed in two phases.
The real work of phase one began at the end of the school year. For several weeks, workers for the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM) were busy installing the new equipment.
Then they were busy uninstalling it.
"Does anyone know what happened at John Eaton playground to the playground improvement project?" one member of the Cleveland Park listserv wrote today.
For the past few weeks the workers have been busy assembling new, brightly covered playground equipment. (Starting to work as early at 6:00 am on weekeday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, to boot! — a clear violation of the DC noise ordinance.)
Now for the past day or so, the workers have been busy removing the newly installed equipment. As of Friday morning, August 14, it is back to square one — nothing is installed.
Is this another DC boondoggle?
A spokesperson for OPEFM told City Desk that the equipment had indeed been taken down, but stressed that it will rise again
"Yes, the playground equipment was taken down. That was because of a technical glitch of the installation," he said. "The bottom line is there's going to be more installation time in the installation. These things happen all the time. Our contractors are on schedule to complete the installation" by the first day of school.
So look for it by then.
Below is a rendering of the playground-to-be, provided by OPEFM:
3:49 pm
“As a part of the installation, the contractor erects the main components of the play set – then shoots the elevations. Once the elevations have been recorded, the contractor will make any necessary adjustments to ensure the play set is aligned properly. The play set is then re-assembled and anchored.
Our contractors are on schedule to complete the installation.”
4:21 pm
Sounds like what happened at the 14th and Girard Street Park -- they "finished" it, had an opening ceremony, then there was some problem with the concrete so they ripped it up and rebuilt it.
6:59 pm
Profiling in Cleveland Park? Bob Dylan got profiled in New Jersey. Some cops stopped Dylan as he was walking around - interesting to read what he does before a show:
The incident began at 5 p.m. when a resident said a man was wandering around a low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses. The police officer drove up to Dylan, who was wearing a blue jacket, and asked him his name.
The following exchange ensued: ''What is your name, sir?'' the officer asked. ''Bob Dylan,'' Dylan said. ''OK, what are you doing here?'' the officer asked. ''I'm on tour,'' the singer replied.
The officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as ''Like a Rolling Stone'' and ''Blowin' in the Wind'' said that he didn't have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night's show.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/14/arts/AP-US-People-Bob-Dylan.html
So - if Dylan is in town, walk around the concert site in the late afternoon, you might see him. What's pathetic is that neither cop knew who Dylan is...
11:53 am
After a glitch with the installer at Eaton Elementary we are pleased to announce that elementary school students at eight District of Columbia public schools are starting the school year with new playgrounds. Sparks @ Play LLC provided, and in some cases installed, new playgrounds at Brent, Eaton, Kenilworth, Ludlow-Taylor, Murch, Orr, M.C. Terrell/McGogney and Wheatley Elementary Schools. These schools all have new EVOS play systems (some with the companion Weevos for ages 2-5), many themed with school colors. Designed to provide spontaneous play with physically and mentally challenging play elements, focusing on building core strength, problem solving, balance, and upper and lower body strength. The unconventional arches on EVOS also provide unobstructed views for teachers and parents.
For more information contact:
Stephanie Sparks
Sparks@Play LLC
ssparks@sparksatplay.com