Has Issues with Metal Dome Jungle Gym

To The Editor:
For years I have taken my children to the park in Del Haven on Bayshore Road. Even as a child my mother would take my sister, brother, and me there to play. I took my three children there last week and my daughter hurt her head on the metal dome jungle gym. After she got hurt, several other moms started making comments that they wish that metal dome was not a part of the playground. Recently, another friend’s son received a huge bruise from the same playground. I am sure that over the years there have been several head injuries, broken bones, and bruises associated with this particular piece of playground equipment.
I am a mother that is on top of her children every second of the day and I still cannot prevent injuries from happening. What about the children that go to this park without the supervision of their parents? The bathrooms are very far away from the playground and close at 4:30. When I was there (only an hour and a half) I saw three little boys urinating on the trees because the bathroom was closed. The bathroom is also very far away from the playground itself. Children have to walk across the parking lot to get the bathrooms. Could they just use a portable toilet and place it close to the park?
There is an online petition that has been started to remove the metal dome playground. Right now we are experiencing some problems with the site but have contacted the technical support and should have this problem fixed shortly. The petition can be found at www.change.org/petitions/ get-rid-of-metal-dome-at-del-haven-park-to-remove-to-the-metal dome?utm_medium=facebook&utm _source= share_petition&utm_term=friends_wall
When I was little I fell and opened my chin and needed three stitches because of this metal contraption. A fence would also be nice to secure the park and protect kids from wandering to the marsh behind the park. I am a parent who watches her children very, very closely but I see parents at the park that do not watch their children. I also see several children there who are not accompanied by any parents or guardians of any type. We also have started a group on facebook. The link for that is http://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/groups/325665264158554/325685220823225/?notif_t=group_activity.
JENNIFER DOLBOW
North Cape May