The recently opened playground at Lantana Ranch Park in Chandler is airport themed. It's attracting lot of families and, unfortunately, already some urban blight.
Tall and steep slides, winding slides, swings, rockers, a merry go round and even an airport tower with a pretend radar. The new playground at Lantana Ranch Park is located on McQueen Road, just South of Germann Road, nestled in between brand new commercial buildings and the Lantana Ranch neighborhood.
On the weekend E Appleby Road is full of parked cars that ferry families to Chandler's newest playground. The pretend airport tower, a unique feature, even has a sign saying "Chandler Municipal Airport". The actual airport is about half a mile to the North and planes taking off or landing there can be clearly seen from the playground.
The other unique feature is a human-powered merry go round that, if driven strongly enough, can make kids giggle and maybe even get a little dizzy.
The grounds also feature a CrossFit type fitness area with contraptions that are sized for adults, although the kids seem to like it there too.
It's always wonderful to see happy children play and fortunately most parents have dispensed with the masking and let their kids be kids and breathe freely.
On the downside, when we went to check it out, we saw an old and partially opened boxing bag lying on the ground. It had spilled part of its content over the grounds. An old jacket was hanging over a fence. Experience has shown that playgrounds often serve as magnets for urban blight. Chandler has this problem in several places. Homeless people and drifters can sometimes be seen at the Folley Memorial Park playground on Frye Road and the Tibshraeny Family Park near Cooper and Chandler Boulevard. It's a shame that it appears to have found yet another playground, in such a short time. City leaders can be reached at: mayorandcouncil@chandleraz.gov
