On Oct. 21, Templeton Family Fall Festival will raise funds for renovations of structures
PASO ROBLES — A new slide has been installed at Templeton Park, and more updates for the playground are in the works. In August, Paso Robles Press spoke with San Luis Obispo (SLO) County District 1 Supervisor John Peschong about the park after residents issued their concerns over its current state. We spoke with him again this week for an update on the progress of the park.
In August, residents, including the Templeton Recreation Foundation, raised concerns about the current condition of Templeton Park’s play structure. Repairs and replacements on some of the damaged or vandalized equipment started six months ago, but due to manufacturer issues and not being able to find all the replacement parts, parts of the beloved structure are boarded up and unable to be used by the community’s children and their families.
Over six months ago, the San Luis Obispo County Parks Department noticed one of the slides needed to be replaced after some wear and tear. The new slide was finally delivered last week and installed the next day.
“They delivered it, and the next day, the parks employees and the ranger were in the park working on replacing it because that was the thing now, and they got it replaced, and the kids have been sliding on it,” said Peschong.
“We had to take some pieces of the park out about a year ago,” he added.
With the park being well over 20 years old, it is in need of some updates. Some pieces of the playground, like the spring horses, have been removed due to replacement parts being discontinued. Peschong notes that the County Parks Commission has been meeting and discussing on how to update many of the county parks that are in need of some updates.
Within the next week, Peschong says the county should know more about how they will be able to fix or update the bridge connecting the two structures at the park. Some vandalism cause the plexiglass bubbles to be kicked out. Unfortunately, the county has been unable to find replacement bubbles and it is highly likely some else will need to be put in their place.
While the playground structure is meeting the county’s safety guidelines, continuously changing safety regulations across the country and espeically in the state, impact how the county makes updates to the structures.
“As more science and some data becomes available, there are things that are being fine-tuned within parks all over America but especially in California where they are removing equipment,” said Peschong, adding, “We are constantly updating whatever the latest data is showing us where and what we need to be able to do to provide the safest environment for these kids to be able to play.”
On Saturday, Oct. 21, the Paso Robles and Templeton Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Templeton Family Fall Festival in which partial proceeds will go towards supporting the play structure.
The festival is free for all Chamber members and Templeton residents and will have a live band, kids activities, bounce houses, a mechanical bull, and more.
The Templeton Boosters will provide barbeque tri-tip, beans, salad, and bread with donated proceeds to the Templeton REC department in support of the play structure renovations. Beer, seltzer, and wine will also be available, with a portion of the proceeds also supporting the play structure.
“[There are] Lots of kids in Templeton right now, so we want to make sure we have access to a safe play structure and safe playground so they can continue to burn off some energy,” said Peschong.
For more information on the Templeton Family Fall Festival, visit business.pasorobleschamber.com/events/details/templeton-family-fall-festival-14741
Feature Image: Members of the San Luis Obispo County Parks Department stand next to the new, recently installed slide at Templeton Park. Contributed Photo
