Save the shade trees at Travers Park

A sizable Idaho Land & Water Conservation Grant with matched funding from local taxpayers created Travers Park in 1982. Numerous young trees were planted in the hope that someday they’d provide shade for park visitors.

Today, a beautiful Red Oak with graceful limbs casts a 50-foot-wide canopy of shade next to the playground. Nearby, four large maples, three blue spruces, a stately willow and a sweet crabapple stand strong; but not for long.

The city wants to cut-down these 10 healthy trees and remove the sturdy playground equipment to make space for a large tennis-pickleball facility. Should a different location in the park be chosen that doesn’t destroy beneficial shade trees? If the city cared to ask the parents who regularly bring their children to play there, they’d learn their answer is a resounding “yes."

Only two years ago, the idea of completely rebuilding the playground wasn’t even a concept in their Park and Recreation Master Plan. But a diversion plan was resurrected for a summer splash-pad to soften the public’s acceptance to spend $560,000 of local taxpayers’ money to match another grant for a total rebuild. Many view this as hypocritical to ask the very same conservation agency for more money to build an artificial grass playground with plastic logs for an “Into the Woods” theme while killing the big shade trees this agency funded 40 years ago.

City council needs to be pressured into backing-up to simply add a splashpad to the existing playground with some handicap features for a lot less money. Our community’s initial investment, along with funding many years of care by the City’s park dept, shouldn’t be so easily disregarded. Climate issues were never even discussed.

Please convince the mayor and council that established residents want better “family-friendly decisions” made ahead of wealthy retirees’ love-set play.

REBECCA HOLLAND

Sandpoint