![\"playground](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Harry_Stone_Park_EmmaRuby.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe toddler-friendly zone at the Harry Stone Park playground in East Dallas is a bit meager. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe toddler-friendly zone at the Harry Stone Park playground in East Dallas is a bit meager. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Emma Ruby<\/p>\n
Some of Jasmine Cadena\u2019s favorite childhood memories took place at Harry Stone Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walking home from her East Dallas school each day, she and her brother would stop at the park to run around the fields or swing at the playground. She remembers especially loving the twisty slide.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Six months ago, when it came time to purchase a house for herself and her four children, returning to the Casa View neighborhood felt like the right choice. She was excited to continue making memories at the Harry Stone Park in this phase of her life, but when her family visited the playground,<\/a> she was surprised to see it had remained virtually unchanged since her childhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a little bit more run-down than I remembered,\u201d she said. \u201cSo [my children] tend to avoid the playground. My daughter actually calls it the \u2018haunted park.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cadena had several concerns: she felt the equipment was outdated,<\/a> and much of it appeared to be covered in rust, mold and graffiti. Some patchwork repairs had taken place over time, like the sheet of plywood installed to cover a risky climbing element, but she watched children incorporate the intended barriers as just another challenge.<\/p>\n She began asking neighbors whether they felt that the Harry Stone playground had been left behind, and the answer was a resounding yes. She teamed up with Karen Ramirez, another Casa View mom who has lived in the neighborhood for five years, and the duo launched a petition in hopes of getting the attention of decision-makers at City Hall. At the time this article was written, it had garnered over 600 signatures.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n They also began organizing community listening sessions, during which they compiled a list of requests to improve the playground. At the very minimum, they\u2019d like the equipment to be cleaned of rust and graffiti, and for lighting and benches to be installed around the playground. They\u2019d also like the play area to be enclosed because a nearby thoroughfare is notorious for fast traffic.\u00a0<\/p>\n The current state of the playground isn\u2019t doing Harry Stone justice, they say. They love the recreation center and the aquatic center, both of which are relatively new. They also like the trails that surround the nearly 20 acres of green space and the accessible sports fields. But when Cadena and Ramirez\u2019s children want to play on a playground, the families tend to leave their neighborhood in search of something better.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cKids will make do with what they have,\u201d said Ramirez. \u201cBut it could be such a destination park. \u2026 If it had a really nice playground, it has just about everything else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A Sisyphean Maintenance Problem<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Dallas Park and Recreation department said that staff maintain each of the 214 playgrounds located across the city on a \u201cregular recurring schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n The average age of Dallas\u2019 playgrounds is 18 years, and, admittedly, Harry Stone\u2019s playground is \u201cnearing the end of its service life,\u201d which is why the wear and tear on the equipment is especially evident. According to the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, the playground was installed in 2003.<\/p>\n But unless Cadena and Ramirez get clever, it could be a while before they are satisfied with an updated facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n Because Dallas relies on playgrounds\u2019 ability to last 20 or more years, new amenities are funded through capital improvement programs.<\/a> In the 2024 bond program, which overwhelmingly supported parks as a part of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson\u2019s top priorities, funds were appropriated for 52 playground projects. In some cases, that means a total playground replacement. In others, shade structures, lighting or specific equipment projects are detailed, according to the city\u2019s 2024 bond dashboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among the playgrounds slated for total replacement is the one at Casa View Park, just two miles north of Harry Stone. That project is currently in the design phase, and the projects will be spread out over the next three years as the bond is expected to be disbursed through 2029.<\/a> The park department said facility conditions are taken into consideration when determining which projects will be prioritized first during the multi-year bond process.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to replace the playgrounds that reach the end of their service life on a rotation through future bond programs,\u201d the park department said in an emailed statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n It appears to be an endless cycle: Bonds, passed on multi-year cycles, attempt to fix up the city\u2019s highest-priority facilities. But by the time those projects are completed, others have fallen into bad shape.<\/p>\n![\"playground](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HarryStonePark_EmmaRuby.jpg\")
Concerned mothers say that a piece of plywood meant to close off the playground\u2019s climbing obstacle has failed to deter the neighborhood\u2019s most fearless youth. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Harry_Stone_JasmineCadena.jpeg\")
Casa View residents want rust, mold and graffiti cleaned off their playground.<\/p>\n