A planned demolition of the Kids Kove playground at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center has been scheduled to take place the week of May 4. According to County Administrator Dave Benda, "a plan will be made to preserve all of the markers and any signage with community members' and donors' names." Benda also notes the county's parks and recreation commission has been charged with writing a new business plan for the Civic Center this year and will consider usage of the demolished space.

"Although Kids Kove is irreplaceable, commissioners have expressed a desire to see a playground of some sort located again at the Civic Center in the future," says Benda. "(Parks and Recreation) will examine all options for best serving our community at the Civic Center, and will make recommendations to the full commission."

Kids Kove has been closed for nearly a year after elevated arsenic levels were discovered in the playground's soil last summer. Commissioners determined in March that remediating the contamination and refurbishing the playground would be too costly and voted instead to demolish the structure.