HARLINGEN — If you thought the shabby blue concrete picnic tables and benches at Lon C. Hill Park wouldn’t be missed, you underestimate the power of memory.
On Wednesday, the city had a groundbreaking at the park for what will be the first of its three innovative all-inclusive playgrounds.
But some people are complaining the city has been insensitive not just about the removal of trees at the park, but especially in busting up the blue-tinted concrete picnic tables and benches which have been there for decades.
“When I go down there to Harlingen, I go around town to see the things I don’t get to see every day, and the park was one of the places I would go to,” said Aniceto de la Cruz, who now lives in San Antonio. “And every time I look at the benches, I would remember something from when I was a child.”
Joe Corral II, who now lives in Dallas but grew up in Harlingen, has been vocal about what he sees as the loss of the city’s heritage in the past. He fought against razing the “Glass House” on Tyler Avenue downtown, as well as St. Anthony’s Catholic Church.
“These benches could have been moved even though they’re solid concrete,” Corral said. “They’ve been here since day one, and there are a lot of memories there. Yeah, they’re concrete slabs, but they’re more than concrete slabs.”
Both de la Cruz and Corral made clear they are not against creating a children’s playground which will be accessible for children with special needs.
“I was born with physical impairments, but that never kept me from enjoying the park the way it was,” de la Cruz said. “Basically, I think there are a lot of other parks that are bigger, or other spaces, where they could build that for special needs or handicapped kids.”
For its part, the city says three trees were removed to make way for the playground, and more of the ashes with rotting trunks may have to go as well.
“There may be one or two more trees that may need to be removed due to safety reasons,” said Javier Mendez, parks and recreation director. “They’re old ash trees there, and although they provided shade, they may fall and we don’t want people hurt or property damaged.”
The concrete picnic tables and benches mostly sat under a grove of ebony trees, and those will remain, Mendez said.
As for the benches and tables, Mendez said those, too, had reached the end of their usefulness.
“Our staff has in years past been out there and tried to repair those and extend the life of them,” Mendez said. “I took a look at them and they’re very dangerous — rebar’s sticking out of them, concrete that has been chipped away and very little concrete left.
“I was afraid somebody would sit down on those and fall, or stab themselves with rusted rebar,” he said.
The newly remodeled Lon C. Hill Park will not go table-free, Mendez said.
The city plans to replace the concrete structures with new aluminum tables and benches, so the shade of the ebony trees will still provide respite.
“We’re going to come back, put some caliche down and crushed granite, and put aluminum tables there,” he said.
Ramiro Hernandez, who grew up in Harlingen in the very neighborhood where the park is located, said when he heard about the destruction and removal of the concrete tables and benches it upset him
“I said, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on?’” recalled the 59-year-old Ramirez. “Back in the day, when we were kids, everything happened at the park.”
But he says his initial concerns have dissipated, even if his recollections of childhood have not.
“I feel a little better today, but we still have a bunch of memories,” he said.
“But they’ve got something good going on for the kids,” he said of the new playground.
