BEAUMONT, Texas — Residents are calling on city leaders to prioritize working on bringing back a playground to a beloved Beaumont park.
The 19-year-old Charlton-Pollard Park playground first closed September 2022.
The city put up fencing over the playground after 12News reported on dilapidated and dangerous equipment.
City leaders told 12News it could be another five months before a new playground is installed.
President of the Charlton-Pollard Community Association Christopher Jones is frustrated that it's taken this long.
"I was expecting some type of precedence understanding that other parks need attention not all parks equipment was removed as if it was going to be replaced in a fashionable amount of time," Jones said.
Jones says kids have had to get creative while the parks playground remains under construction.
"I've seen kids in our neighborhood sitting on the concrete area coloring with sidewalk chalk," Jones said.
Now that summer vacation is here, kids in the Charlton-Pollard neighborhood are relying on the park's splash pad and field to have fun.
"This weekend coming we have our annual South End day and i'm quite sure families would have liked to see their children, our youth playing on the playground," Jones said.
Beaumont City Manager Kenneth Williams says it will be another 12 to 16 weeks before the playground arrives.
"We have to go out for bid. We can't just go out and purchase things," Williams said.
Then, it would take another 30 days to get it installed.
"We got input from the community, we had meetings with the youth on what type of equipment they would want," Williams said.
During a city's council meeting on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, council members approved $1.4 million for playgrounds across Beaumont.
On January 31, 2023, ExxonMobil presented a $100,000 check to the City of Beaumont's Park and Recreations department to go towards repairs of Charlton-Pollard Park.
Once it's here, Williams promises it will be bigger and better than before.
"We've been able to take some of the parks fund, part of the $1.4 million out of that we've ordered some new playground equipment, the field, some of the Exxon dollars are going to be used to improve that the tennis courts," Williams said.
Out of the $1.4 million, the Charlton-Pollard playground equipment costs $112,966.
But for this summer, kids will have to continue getting creative.
"We'll just be hopefully waiting and just doing what we have to do to entertain our kids during the summer," Jones said.