Panora residents may have noticed that Michael Mills Park is looking a little bare.

Mayor Pat Parker says that is because the city decided to replace the playground equipment with new equipment. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio why the park needed an upgrade.

“Our playground equipment was coming up on about 20 years old, part of it. The swings had been there much longer than that, and a couple of issues came up that were becoming concerning for the city. And the one was on the swing set, it didn’t allow proper separation for different ages, from toddlers to older kids to keep everybody safe. And then on the slides we were getting where some of the slides were getting old and they were starting to crack, and we were concerned about safety issues with some of those. And then under the swings and some of the slides, the ground material we had was moving away and not staying in a proper place, so creating some safety issues.”

Parker mentions that the old equipment was sold to a church in New Virginia, and that helped fund the purchase of the new equipment. He adds that the new equipment should be delivered within the week, and that it should be installed by early June.