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Utah's biggest playground is closed because it's too dangerous for kids to play on. It's going to take thousands of dollars and months of work to make it safe again.
Two nights ago vandals ripped the Wild West Jordan playground behind city hall apart, making it a dangerous place for children.
Mother Brynne Ruiz said, "It's really frustrating ‘cause it's a beautiful place, my kids love it. I'm bothered that people would be such animals."
Park superintendent Brian Clegg showed us around the destruction. "They kicked all these out, knocked this all the way down to here. We had to put a board here. These can't be replaced, we have to go with the cheaper wood. It takes money to replace it and man hours. We're taking time to replace this stuff when we could be doing other things," he said.
Local companies and school students donated money, and volunteers donated $1 million worth of labor to build the playground. It was called the crown jewel of West Jordan, but now another $3,000 and a lot more work is going to be needed to repair the playground.
Sgt. Drew Sander, with the West Jordan Police, said, "It could be as much as two months. We've got to find the money for materials and hope for good weather to get out here and repair it."
The community played a big part in getting this playground built. Now police say they need to protect it. "What the vandals don't want is people who are going to be active and make a call," Sander said.
Police do have a few leads in the case, but no arrests have been made.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
