SANTA MONICA—On December 9, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health gave an update as far as the closure of local parks and playgrounds due to the pandemic. With the permission of the public health authorities the City of Santa Monica’s parks will be reopening and available to the public starting Friday,December 11.
Currently with Covid-19 cases on the rise the announcement of the reopening of parks will allow parents to practice extreme caution and vigilance. As the risk run high Santa Monica seeing a 15% increase occurring just within the past two weeks alone according to https://covidtracking.com/data.
Follow posted health guidance every time you visit a playground. This includes:
- Never visiting if you are sick.
- Not gathering with people outside your household.
- Wearing a face covering at all times, including all children over age two.
- Using hand sanitizer or washing hands frequently.
- Not visiting the playground when crowded.
The following parks will open Friday, December 11:
- Airport Park Playground
- Annenberg Community
- Beach House Playground
- Clover Park Playgrounds
- Douglas Park Playground
- Euclid Park Playground
- Gandara Park Playground
- Ishihara Park Playground
- Marine Park Playground
- North Beach Playground
- Ozone Park Playground
- Reed Park Playground
- Tongva Park Playground
- Virginia Avenue Park Playground (slide closed)
Coordinating with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, the school playground structures will reopen at the following locations Franklin, Roosevelt, McKinley, Rogers, Grant, Edison, and Muir / SMASH schools.
The regulations pertaining to open spaces and fields within Santa Monica elementary schools will be monitored Monday- Friday between 3:30-5P.M. and weekends and breaks through the Playground Partnership. Behavior will also be observed of the playground users, if for any reason the district feels as though the public is not following the rules and guidelines put in place, the district then has the power to discontinue access.
The Lincoln Middle School and John Adams Middle School fields will be open however for permit use only.
The LA County’s Department of Public Health noted that high contact programs and recreational amenities that require close contact less than six feet are to remain suspended.
Activities that are to remain suspended are non-professional team sports, group sporting events, organized intermural activities, pick-up basketball and volleyball, lawn bowling, and/or organized races along with recreational amenities like splash pads, outdoor fitness equipment, and outdoor BBQ grills in parks.
“We thank the community for their patience as guidelines change regularly. A special thank you to the City of Santa Monica’s Public Works team who have worked expeditiously to close, reopen, close and now reopen playgrounds as directed by public health officials who are doing all they can to stop the spread of this vicious virus”.
Canyon News has reached out to retain more information but no comment has been made before publishing.
