We wrote about the matter last week. In an email to our editorial office, our Reader reported that the playground at MPP No. 7 was being closed after the facility’s opening hours and that children living near Gdańska, Łokietka and Orla streets had nowhere to play. “This new equipment in the kindergarten yard was paid for from the city budget, that is, from our taxes, and yet ordinary residents cannot use it. There is no place at all—even the smallest corner—for children to play near this kindergarten. The nearest one is near the Market Square, and farther away there is Łukasiewicza, where, in fine weather, almost the entire city gathers. Besides, the playground on Łukasiewicza is like a frying pan in sunny weather—there is no shade at all,” she argued.
She also added that “the city sells plots for residential development near Gdańska, Łokietka and Orla. So why does it not think about organizing something for the new residents of these areas? If they do not want to build something new, they should open the playground that already exists.”
Last week, Ewa Szachowicz, director of Municipal Public Kindergarten No. 7, explained that the playground was closed after 4:00 p.m. with the consent of the governing body—that is, Bolesławiec City Hall. “We do this because when the playground was open to everyone, the next day we found beer bottles, cans and broken glass there,” the director emphasized. “This playground was put into use in May last year. Soon afterward, the facility was vandalized. It is clear, however, that the facility director is obliged to properly secure the property. Hence the decision to close this playground after 4:00 p.m.,” explained Beata Sulska, head of the Social Affairs Department at Bolesławiec City Hall.
However, after the report What About the Playground at Kindergarten No. 7? was published, city officials changed their position. Since Thursday, May 5, the facility has been open around the clock.
“As its director, I would like this facility always to look this beautiful and to serve all children,” Szachowicz says today. “Unfortunately, however, various people use our playground. Two weeks ago, one piece of play equipment was damaged. Neither the city nor this facility can afford constant repairs. I have nothing against children from outside our kindergarten playing here. Let them play, but let them not vandalize or damage anything. This facility is a common good.
Ewa Szachowicz appeals to people living near the kindergarten to inform the police and municipal police of any acts of vandalism on the grounds of MPP No. 7.
(information: ii)