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Heights Park is due for a reinvention and the Richardson City Parks Department has been doing just that. Over the past few months they have held several public meetings and workshops in order to get public input into what will be Heights Park’s new face. Not surprisingly what produced the most emotion in the park plans is the four somewhat unique pieces of playground equipment. The rocket has especially attracted special attention.

There is a problem with these pieces, so we are told, in that they do not meet current legal standards (having to do with things like the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990), liability and a host of other problems.

At a recent meeting where various firmer plans were unveiled on June 14, 2007, only the rocket was included in any of the plans. Even with its inclusion, one of the three plans did not include the rocket, and the other two had it as an “entry feature” rather than placing it as more central to understanding the space within the park. The three plans presented were heavy on function, but light on understanding the aesthetics and history of the neighborhood – let alone the city. In fact the rocketship in the conceptual form appeared to be gutted. This is not to say that great effort was not afforded on what was produced so far. Indeed, the showing by the City, its hired consultants, and the general public showed a great amount of effort but a great amount of effort remains to be done if the spiritual center of the park is to be maintained.

I want to argue for keeping the pieces in some form for a number of reasons. First, the pieces express a general history and historical context in which Richardson grew after World War II, and they express the forward looking optimism which has always embodied and hopefully will always embody Richardson. Further, saving them would be relatively cheap, and would provide a “photo opportunity” tourist like landmark that is difficult to achieve in suburban parks. In short, besides maintaining a sense of cultural history, such an inclusion would move the park from being merely new and good to being a one of a kind landmark.