The Greenville City Council intends Tuesday to receive an update on the status of Aunt Char’s KidZone inside the Greenville SportsPark.
Acting Parks and Recreation Director Kimber Patterson is scheduled to present the results of an assessment of chemicals used in the construction of the playground, as part of Tuesday’s regular session agenda, starting at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 2821 Washington Street. A work session is also set for 5 p.m. Tuesday.
In July, the city retained Freese and Nichols, Inc. to conduct a precautionary assessment of Aunt Char’s.
The play area was constructed in 2002 by local residents and the City of Greenville Parks and Recreation Department and named for an anonymous donor who contributed $80,000 toward construction. In 2006, the playground was rebuilt, again primarily by volunteers.
Wood treated with a preservative called chromated copper arsenate (CCA) — a mix of chromium, copper and arsenic — was used to construct the playground. Numerous similar playgrounds in the DFW Metroplex were constructed using wood treated with CCA.
To conduct the assessment, Freese and Nichols collected wipe samples from wooden surfaces and soil samples underlying the structures.
A portion of the Aunt Char’s has also been closed to the public since a fire damaged the playground early on the morning of May 12.