Parents upset after toys in park removed by city



SEATTLE -- It’s a fight over toys in West Seattle after the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department removed dozens of toys from their park.

Many parents who use Ercolini Park were outraged when they discovered the park was empty and learned the toys were swept up by the city parks department.

“There were all these great things for them to play with and now they’re gone,” said Amanda Konstantas, a parent who counted on the toys at the park.

On any given day, Ercolini Park was filled with toys donated by local families.

Konstantas is upset that the city came in and threw them all away.

“It seems like it’s known for this, it’s the culture of the park and it’s why people come here,” added Konstantas.

Many families have been coming to this park for years and enjoyed the toys donated by local families.

“It’s great to get them out of the house and be able to come out meet other parents and have kids interact with each other and just have fun outside of the house with toys that are age appropriate,” said Robin Kloven, who has started bringing her 16-month old daughter to the park.

Twice in the last two weeks, the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department has removed just about all the toys at the park. The city claims says they got complaints from area residents.

“On one hand it’s kind of nice that they’re there, you know when you have your kids there and stuff; but it’s also a bit of an eyesore. There are so many and it’s kind of littered with them,” said Krystal Kelley, who has visited the park in the past.

On Wednesday, a city worker hauled off dozens of the toys from the park.

On Thursday, the parks department told us many of the toys were worn and broken and that their first priority is to provide clean, safe spaces people can use and enjoy.

“My son basically learned to walk in this park and lots of families don’t have the space or the means to be able to have toys like this in their homes,” said Konstantas.

She then decided to start an online petition to send a message to the city and within 24 hours; she had more than a thousand signatures from people upset that the toys were gone.

“The online petition was the easiest way to signal to the city that there are lot of families that love this place,” said Konstantas.

On Thursday, the city sent a message asking to meet with her and other parents to work something out.

Konstantas said she will be happy to meet with the city and other parents to come up a compromise so they can keep some of the toys at the park and keep nearby neighbors happy.