Vancouver playground slide removed following noise complaints

A popular kids’ slide in a Vancouver park has been removed following numerous complaints from neighbours that it’s too loud.

It’s a move that surprised parents, who insisted “it really, really wasn't that noisy.”

Steel fencing now surrounds a hole in the ground where the roller slide used to be in sθәqәlxenәm ts'exwts'áxwi7 park, at the corner of Richards and Smithe streets.

“It sounded like a little bit of roll,” said Catherine Corrigall-Brown, who brought her kid to the playground in what’s also known as Rainbow Park.

“Obviously when you live in a city, there's going to be noise, and I’m surprised the noise of the delightful children wasn't even louder than the slide,” she argued.

But a spokesperson for the Vancouver Park Board blamed the issue on “very big kids” abusing the playground equipment, by running up the slide late at night.

“That caused the roller slides to actually punch through the frame. We've had a lot of issues with the bearings and that's created a lot of the noise issues that we're seeing,” said Ian Stewart, manager of park development.

“It's really that misuse during hours when you might not have the younger kids in the playground,” he said.

The board contacted the manufacturer hoping to find a fix to keep it, but in the end decided it should be replaced by a more traditional slide.