RESIDENTS CHEER NEW MCNAIR PARK JUNGLE GYM AND SLIDE

By Juan Montoya

El Rrun-Rrun

Less then a year after vandals torched a $50,000 jungle gym and slide at Harry McNair Park at 350 E. Charles Street the city installed its replacement before an appreciative crowd of neighborhood residents.

The playground equipment was torched by unknown vandals this past Thanksgiving Day 2024. Parks and Recreation Department workers cleaned up the charred remains of the jungle gym and installed a temporary park fixture while they acquire a new replacement (see picture at right.).

Parks and Recreation Department workers cleaned up the charred remains of the jungle gym and installed a temporary park fixture while they acquired a new replacement (see picture at right.)

At the time, the city said this was not the first time the park was vandalized and said the city police were investigating the fire.

“We've had vandalism here before, more recently with one of our fountains here,” Brownsville Parks and Recreation Director Sean De Palma told a news station then. “We have a public fountain and there's graffiti and so forth, and we're just asking the community to partner with us."

City leaders celebrated the re-grand opening of Harry E. McNair Park and its newly renovated playground with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

De Palma said then that it would be there for at least a year before a permanent replacement piece was brought in. Wednesday, at what an observer said was "light speed" for the city, the replacement park fixture was installed before approving neighborhood residents. 

And, to add a personal touch, De Palma said that new benches installed at the park Wednesday (at top) had been made by hand by personnel at the parks and recreation department. Park grounds are open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

(We thank former city commissioner Roy De Los Santos for photos in this post.)