A few weeks back three presidents of various Heights neighborhood associations in Richardson had the privilege of presenting a plan for strengthening and renewing the Heights area. I was amongst those being the President of Richardson Heights Neighborhood Association. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive and that reaction included support of corners of Richardson far from Heights. There was some reasonable skepticism of parts of the plan and a small amount of negative reaction. I think it is worth responding to some of that reaction.

Deconstruction of the Heights Space Age playground happened on Monday. Many people were on hand with many learning of it from stories on the Echo, the Dallas Observer's Unfair Park blog, and a Dallas Morning News story. Many people arrived hearing of its demise only that day.

For several generations, the Space Age themed playground at Heights Park has fascinated and affixed Heights Park as one of the few truly unique places in Richardson’s suburban landscape. That era is about to come to an end. Starting July 14, without any ceremony or recognition of Richardson’s past, the equipment along with other "non compliant" equipment will be removed.

A residential developer is seeking to gives homes in the Richardson Heights area a rebirth. Residential developer Peter Livingston is refurbishing the interiors – and more – on over one dozen homes in the Richardson Heights area.

We have gotten a great response since we unofficially launched a few weeks ago. In this article, we will tell you about our plans for the next few weeks.

Heights Park in west Richardson was created in the 1960s and a time when Richardson was about to explode. The Parks Department is currently reworking the master plan for the park. One thing that might not be included is the four special pieces playground equipment: The Rocket, The Radar, The Planet and the Submarine. Although it looks like the Rocket will survive, the other pieces might be in jeopardy. Although legal issues make it likely that they will have to be removed from service as actual playground pieces, I want to argue that their symbolic content says a great deal about what Richardson is and where is has come from. I further argue that we should keep the pieces in some from as artistic reminders of how far our city has come, where we came from and where we are going. There has also been some outside press coverage of the issue which we will review here.