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April 25, 1974 PHOENIX Page 5Slope Parents DemonstrateFor Adventure PlaygroundTired of Delays,Demand ActionMarjory Potts speaks to assembled Slope parents. |Marvin Winter Photo|BY JOHN BLACKMOREWill the Third Street Adventure Playground in Prospect Park ever get built? Marjory Potts, Chairperson of the Park Slope Civic Council%u2019s Third St. Playgrounds Committee, has set her will and that of other Slope parents against the Parks Department officialdom to get the approved, budgeted and designed playground finally underway this summer. But excuse after excuse have been posed in way of the goal.Ms. Potts has been working for the construction of the innovative playground for toddlers and young children for nearly four years. %u201c I got it moving under the past administration--finally--and then all my contacts were fired.%u201d says Ms. Potts. %u201c For the past two months, no matter how we badgered, screamed and pressured. nothing was done to clear up the minor details and get the bids in to begin construction. When we finally threatened a major sit-in at City Hall, Councilman Thomas Cuite arranged a meeting in mid-March between Parks Administrator Edwin Weisl, some of his aides, the Councilman and myself.%u201c At this meeting, no excuses were offered for the time-costing delays, but 1 was promised that bids would be taken immediately and a time table was set up calling for construction to be completed by September 30. The only positive (if you can call it that) thing to come out of thismeeting was that I extracted a commitment for a small temporary playground to be erected in front of the Litchfield mansion for the summer which would be dismantled in the fall when the Third Street site was completed.%u201d The temporary playground, consisting of toddler swings, a slide and a sandbox, was installed two weeks ago.The site for the Adventure Playground was cleared last summer, but before construction could begin, engineers discovered that the site could not hold the weight of play equipment called for in the design; it was too swampy. In the meantime, a new design was made; this time using wood instead of steel for the playground equipment. Also, in the interim, the old contractor had to be released and a new one approved.When the bids came in last Friday, %u201c disaster struck again.%u201d The low bid for the playground was $175,000, while the current budget for the project is $104,000. %u201c And in addition, they were going to cut down on the grade of wood to be used,%u201d said Ms. Potts, %u201c We were promised Douglas Fir, and they were going to give us Yellow Pine.%u201d She said that Yellow Pine was clearly unacceptable. Later Parks officials promised that Douglas Fir would be used.But the Parks officials also promised that the project would be rebid. Rebidding, according to Ms. Potts, would take at least two more months. %u201c This we will not allow,%u201d she said.When Ms. Potts discovered this new state of affairs, she called a meeting of community people at the playground site. Last Saturday morning, with less than 18 hours notice, over 100 men and women met at the site. %u201c A lot of people at the meeting wanted to go to City Hall,%u201d she said, %u201c And we will if we have to.%u201dAt the meeting five decisions were formulated by the encamped parents, and have since been forwarded to Parks Administrator Weisl by letter. They are;%u201c 1. We will see the plans for the cut-down playground and the original(revisedtimber) playground which we approved in the fall. These plans will be made available to us this week at Litchfield Mansion and we will decidewhat changes are acceptable to us and what are not and our decision will stand.%u201d 2. There will be no re-bidding of this playground. We will not suffer for these extraordinary delays, which are a result of incompetence, irresponsible decisions (or lack of decisions), and over-all bungling on the part of all those officially involved in this project. There is money available for the TEAHOUSE, and there will be money for us.1 know for a fact that there is money on Line P-245, a miscellaneous line of the capital budget and we will see that this money is used for our playground which must be completed in terms of 1974 prices, not 1970.\%u201c3. If our wishes are notadhered to, we will meet with Deputy Mayor Cavanaugh. If he will not sec us, we will surely see him. At that point, wc will involve two men many of us know well, Paul O'Dwyer, and Jay Goldin as well as a number of local politicians who would just love to help us out.%u201d%u201c 4. The timetable you sent me in vour letter of March 20 will be adhered to, and the playground will be finished by September 30.\%u201c 5. In this post-Watergate era, may 1 remind you that we here in Park Slope are paying for this playground, and that we also pay the salaries of every public employee in this city. You will be accountable to us or we will know the reason why.%u201d...................... mi....in..... mini.................................................... ..........................................mu.....mm..... ...... mum..... .......imiiummi.... umimmmmimimii..... imimimimi.....mum.... mu.... .Slope Teen Career Center OpensWhat does a librarian do all day? How does a teenager, who might be interested in pursuing library science as a career, discover the answer to that practical question?A %u201c Careers Exploration Center,%u201d an important new community service has opened and begun to serve Park Slope. The center seeks to answer the practical questionsand concerns teenagers have as they begin to work the various career alternatives that are open to them.The new center seeks to provide exposure to various occupations and training centers for junior and senior high school students. Different resources will be used, ranging from on site visits to viewWillowtown StreetFair. Garden MartSaturday, April 27, one of the most popular and oldest of local events takes place when the 14th Annual Willowtown Garden Mart and Street Fair will welcome spring with a touch of gaiety.The Garden Mart begins at 10 with flowers galore. At 12 Noon the Street Fair opens with games, food and fun for all. A bake sale provides home cooked goodies so you don%u2019t have to make dessert when you get home. Games for both children and adults will be available, and an art show by the Cniiuren s art classes will liven up the Community Center. Make-up for children will produce many clowns and princesses and races forchildren will begin at 3:30.This year, three new special attractions will enhance the fair. At 2, a puppet show with selections from %u201cThe Purple Shadow\will be presented by the New Mytn Puppet Company. At 3 a circus mime will delight both children and adults and a nine piece steel band from the Brooklyn Heights Youth Center will play calypso and popular music throughout the afternoon. A flea market will have lots of unusual odds and ends for sale and a children's boutique sponsored by the Community Nursery School will sell used clothes for children. The rain date for the fair is Sunday, April 28.people at their work to films and guest speakers.Much preliminary work has gone into the formation of the center, including research determining the kind of occupations and work available in the Park Slope Community. Preliminary contacts have been made with many career related institutions in South Brooklyn.The new program will work with neighborhood schools and community youth organizations already in existence, in an attempt to make the service available to as many teenagers as possible.Jack Uhrich, a Park Slope resident, is the director of the program. Mr. Uhrich is experienced in designing innovationaf education programs, both in tne community and within the school system.The Career Exploration Center is part of the Project Reach Youth, an ecumenically-sponsored community youth program that has been in existence for six years. Project Reach Youth (PRY) has served the Park Slope area in the past with tutoring program and a recreation program. %u201cThis program adds another desperately needed dimension to our community,%u201d notedthe Rev. Thomas E. Anderson, chairman of the PRY Board of Directors.%u201c It also marks a major addition to the Project Reach Youth program. Above all, it represents a way in which churches, working together, can establish a vital community service.%u201dThe Career Exploration Center will work closely with Child and Youth Development Services, anRe-Entry C la sse sA t Y W C ADue to the popularity of the course, \the problems of returning to work or school after a lapse of time, will be offered both day and evening hours at the Brooklyn Y.W.C.A., 50 ihird Ave. The classes wiii oe given evenings from 7:30 to 10:30 on Wednesdays starting May 1. Daytime Re-Entry is set for Tuesdays from 9 to noon beginning MayJoan Harris, a working mother and professional social worker, instructs the course. The fee is $35 for eight workshops. Registration is now open at the Y.W. front desk or by mail. Call TR 5-1190,Program Department for additional information.umbrella organization for Park Slope youth agencies. The office of the new program is at 415-21 7th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215.Youth Ctr.LuncheonThe Annual Spring Luncheon of the Brooklyn Heights Young Center is set for Saturday May 4 at 12:30 at the Nevins Day Care Center at 460 Atlantic Ave. The buffet luncheon will be followed by a program featuring Vinic Burrows, the celebrated solo artist of \Ms. Burrows, a native of New York and a graduate of New York University has created seven dislinctiy different one woman snows for the college and national theatre circuit. She has received international acclaim for her performances in Algiers, Bucharest, Stockholm and 28 cities in Holland.The Youth Center at 406 Atlantic Ave. is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 to 4 with programs for all ages. The Tenter Board also sponsors the Nevins Day Care Center and after-school program at 460 Atlantic Avenue.