New $184,000 Tot Lot Design Approved For Hall Park

The Suisun City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to spend $184,000 on a replacement tot lot play structure for the one that was lost at Hall park due to Salvation Army construction.

The new play structure, as designed, is larger then the last structure with five play planned platforms instead of two, and comes with a sturdier metal fencing than the chain link fence of the old play structure. It will be built closer to the library and new parking lot being built by the Salvation Army.

The design and budget was approved first by the city parks commission, using a number of sources of money.  The Salvation Army contributed $70,000 toward the new tot lot as part of the deal brokered with the city to buy the land the old tot lot sat on. There is also $80,000 in the city’s park development fund that is budgeted for the project.

That left the city council to approve an additional $34,000 in parks money.

Mayor Pete Sanchez said he could not vote for the additional $34,000 at a time when the city was facing an uncertain future with the potential dissolution of its redevelopment agency. Sanchez said it didn’t matter that the money would come from a fund that was dedicated to parks development.

“If we can’t afford a Cadillac, then maybe we should just go with a Ford Escort,” he said.

Other council members disagreed. Councilwoman Jane Day said Suisun public spaces didn’t get their good looks without cost.

“We are a really good-looking functional city and we have done that by not making us look bad,” she said.

Councilman Sam Derting agreed.

“just because the state’s robbing us blind doesn’t mean we have to stick our head in the sand,” he said.

Much of the discussion centered on safety for children, with the council opting to replace two planned spring riders with a gate so the fence would enclose the play structure.