WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Safety concerns raised by the board of the directors of the Williamstown Historical Museum led to the removal of all playground equipment on the town-owned South Center School property in South Williamstown.

 

The museum has a 50-year lease on the property and earlier this year completed its move from its former quarters in the David and Joyce Milne Public Library.

 

Earlier this spring, at the museum's request, the town removed a swing set, basketball hoop and various playground equipment 

 

WHM Board President Kathy Thompson said the board determined the equipment was not sound.

 

"The board of directors actually took a look at the equipment, and it was not in good shape," she said. "The grounds were not in good shape to the point that equipment was sinking into the dirt in different places.

 

"We had the town look at the equipment to see if they could place it in another one of the playgrounds in town."

 

Thompson said the museum looks forward to welcoming youngsters to its children's room inside the renovated former schoolhouse.

 

She said the board did not contemplate whether having the town-owned play set on the grounds would be an amenity that could attract families to the property.

 

"We didn't talk about it because we knew it was not safe," Thompson said. "The first goal was to keep people safe, and we did not feel the equipment was safe.

 

"It was not a light decision. We gave it consideration, and the bottom line had to be the safety of the children."

 

Town Manager Jason Hoch said the town never received complaints or reports of children being injured on the equipment, and, if it had, it would have remedied the situation.

 

The request from the museum's board of directors apparently was the first time anyone raised safety issues with the equipment, a popular feature of the property when it was occupied by the Williamstown Cooperative Nursery School.

 

 "Last fall, when the lease was being finalized, there was a concern raised by the museum about the museum's potential liability if there was an future theoretical incident," Hoch wrote in a reply to an email seeking clarification. "The Town offered to clarify that the playground would be covered through our insurance.

 

"The request from the museum was to remove it. Since we didn't finalize the lease until fall and there were no documented actual safety issues, we waited until spring to remove it."

 

The playground equipment was removed from the site and not placed on another town property.

 

Thompson said the museum's board of directors has plans for the 2-acre grounds near the Five Corners junction of Routes 7 and 43.

 

"In the future, we're probably going to do another fundraiser," she said. "We're hoping to do a victory garden, an old-fashioned herb garden, and hopefully an orchard."

 

The museum held its grand opening on Sunday. Thompson said more than 200 people attended the event.