Spokane parks plagued by picnic table pyramids
Aug 12, 2012, 9:22 AM | Updated: 4:36 pm
This photo, provided by KREM's Leilah Langley, shows picnic tables in Spokane's Manito park. The parks department says that whether it's a prank, vandalism, or artistic expression, they pyramids are dangerous. (AP Photo/KREM)
(AP Photo/KREM)
The City of Spokane is dealing with a plague of picnic table pyramids and officials want it to stop. On Friday, workers had to disassemble another giant stack of 35 tables in Manito Park.
Park representatives said that the pyramids are extremely dangerous and taking them apart takes time and valuable resources.
“We are talking 32 to 35 feet up in the air, and there is pavement on the ground. If somebody was to take a fall or have a table fall on them trying to set those up, it could be a very serious injury. It could cause death,” Spokane Parks labor foreman David Randolph told local TV station, KREM 2.
Park employees must first fence off the area so that toppling tables can’t hurt bystanders. Then, they use a bucket truck and a forklift to take the picnic table pyramids apart.
Park officials said they will now be spreading the tables around the parks to make them more difficult to stack.
Friday’s incident was the fourth time in several weeks that parks officials have encountered stacked tables in area parks.
“Our crews could be beautifying our parks and keeping them better maintained, but instead we get drawn away,” said Randolph.
