Concerns about the dangerous chemical arsenic in the wood of a Denton playground will be put to rest this week, along with the aging structure.
On Saturday the city will hold a decommissioning ceremony for the Eureka Playground at South Lakes Park.
Children played at the park one last time Monday night before crews fenced it off for demolition early Tuesday morning and began initial tear-downs.
Most of the structure will come down after Saturday's ceremony at 1 p.m. where some of the people who originally built the playground will be on hand to send it off.
In 1995 community members came together to fund and build the Eureka Playground just off of Teasley.
In recent years though, it was discovered that a pesticide commonly used to treat playgrounds in the 1990s, and present in the wood of Eureka, contained arsenic and could pose a danger to growing children.
Maintenance costs to keep that issue at bay and keep the park going finally got too high and the decision to tear it down was made, but it won't be the end of the playground.
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Chrissy Mallouf and other volunteers came together to design and begin fundraising a new Eureka; dubbed Eureka 2.
The new structure will be made of recyclable materials, be nearly maintenance free and be better compliant with modern standards.
While Mallouf said they continue to raise funding for the park, the team is on track to rebuild once the current park comes down.
Preliminary construction will be Oct. 21-23 with the final, major build in November, and it will all be done by volunteers.
They ask anyone looking to volunteer or donate to visit www.eureka2denton.com.
