Warden vacates alley for new playground

WARDEN — The Warden City Council approved a land vacation ordinance, allowing a playground next to a church.

The council decided to vacate an alley running next to the Warden Community Church, allowing the group to move forward with building a playground. The alley is located between West Third Street and West Fourth Street and South Oak Avenue and South Elm Avenue.

City Administrator Mike Thompson said the proposal was brought to the city by the church.

“They own the property on both sides,” he said. “At this time we don’t really have anything going on there.”

Pastor Ed Backell said there is a small amount of space for children to play between the parsonage and the church.

“Right now, there is a slide that’s in there, and neighborhood kids use this space, but it’s not really set up very well,” he said. “There’s a lot of concrete and there’s just not enough space to turn it into a kid-friendly location.”

The church plans to expand the playground, making it safer, Backell said. They plan to add a piece of equipment requiring a 40-foot by 20-foot space.

“We’d like to have the ability for not just the church kids, but the neighborhood kids to have a place to come play as well,” he said.

Four councilmembers approved the ordinance with Councilmember Tony Massa abstaining.