OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford This playground at the corner of Lucas Avenue and Marauder Drive is set to be removed.

The Dunkirk Common Council agreed last month to remove a playground near Dunkirk Junior-Senior High School at the corner of Marauder Drive and Lucas Avenue, for safety reasons.

“Thankfully, this will be done relatively quickly,” said Councilwoman Nancy Nichols, referring to Department of Public Works Director Randy Woodbury.

He said, “The school and city have worked together… there may be a couple other steps to make sure we have all our legal ducks in a row, and then we’ll get right to it and get this down, the sooner the better. Because it could be a hazard and we’d like to eliminate that.”

Woodbury added, “We don’t feel we’re taking away from anything because at the same time, a brand new, code compliant playground is being built at the middle school, which is not too far away.”

Nichols said later, “This is not taking away from playground activities for our children. We have eight other playgrounds in the city.”

Councilman-at-Large David Damico said of the Marauder Drive playground, “I believe we can’t get replacement parts to fix anything and it’s become a liability issue, and we certainly have enough.”

“We built that playground several decades ago and it’s had its day,” Woodbury said.

According to the resolution passed, the school district has agreed to maintain the lawn that will be there after the playground is removed. The site is leased by the school district.