Community activist lobbying for shade structures at all playgrounds

By Jeremy Twitchell

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

As the Las Vegas Valley enters the height of the summer heat, a valley resident is appealing to local government bodies to protect local children from the sun’s rays by placing shade structures over playgrounds.

Community activist Peter “Chris” Christoff said he has been working on the project for more than five years, and in that time he’s seen favorable responses from Clark County, Las Vegas and the Clark County School District.

Henderson and North Las Vegas, however, have been less receptive to his pleas and have lagged behind their counterparts, Christoff said.

“I told them it’s not to badger anybody but, come on, these kids need to be protected,” he said. “They are the leaders. I’m not the leader. But if they don’t take the lead on this, I’m going to keep bringing it up.”

Christoff said he took up the cause after seeing a news report about the long-term harmful effects of too much sun exposure on children. In addition to long-term concerns such as melanoma, he said, there are more immediate concerns, like children burning themselves on sun-scorched playground equipment.

“Why put up $100,000 worth of equipment when nobody can use it?” he said.

Henderson Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Kim Becker said she is aware of Christoff’s concerns and that the department has tried to work with him to address them.

“We take what we do very seriously, especially when it comes to the safety of Henderson children,” Becker wrote in an e-mail. All of the city’s playgrounds are audited and certified by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, then inspected daily and weekly, she said.

In 1998, Becker said, none of the city’s playgrounds had shade canopies. The challenge of adding them, she said, is the cost — an average of $35,000 each.

In 2006, the city began a 10-year plan to cover every city playground as money comes available, which averages about three to four structures per year, she said.

Henderson has covered 28 of its 53 playgrounds, she said. The effort to cover its playgrounds, as well as a new policy requiring all new playgrounds to be built with shade structures, was one of the reasons Henderson recently was recognized as a Playful City USA for the second year in a row, Becker said.

In North Las Vegas, Parks and Recreation Planning and Development Manager Jon Jainga said his city also has been striving to add shade structures to its playgrounds. Of the city’s 27 playgrounds, he said, 18 are covered and two more are scheduled to be covered over the next two years.

“We’re slowly adding (shade structures) over the years as our construction budget allows,” Jainga said.

North Las Vegas also has a policy requiring all new playgrounds be covered, he said.

By comparison, Las Vegas has all 113 of its playgrounds covered.

City spokeswoman Margaret Kurtz said Las Vegas was able to join a contract that the Clark County School District had in place in 2007, which allowed it to cover 68 remaining playgrounds at a reduced cost of about $1.2 million.

In Clark County, 30 of 57 playgrounds are covered, according to county spokeswoman Jennifer Knight, and the County Commission recently authorized almost $3.5 million from its Residential Construction Tax Fund to purchase shade structures for 16 more playgrounds.

Christoff argues that shade structures should not be treated as an afterthought, and a bigger portion of the hundreds of millions of dollars in park money local jurisdictions have received over the years from the Bureau of Land Management should have gone to build them.

“That money should have gone, first and foremost, to protect these children,” he said.

Becker said Henderson has twice applied to use BLM money for shade structures, but that the applications have been denied. She said the city is looking at other potential grant sources to accelerate its shade-building efforts.

She said she appreciated the attention that Christoff is bringing to the issue.

“I actually think it’s a good thing when residents are passionate about an issue, especially when it involves the health and safety of children,” she said.