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# Merriner Park Getting a New Playground—Comments Negative
- URL: https://www.thestreatorstandard.com/f/opinion-merriner-park-getting-a-new-playground-comments-negative/
- Published: 2025-05-22T18:20:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-19T13:59:13.000Z
- Author: The Streator Standard
- Tags: Opinion

A new playground is coming to Merriner Park. The mulch is getting replaced, the landscaping is cleaned up, and kids on the west side will soon have a place to swing, slide, and spin in circles until they fall over laughing. In most places, that’d be good news. In Streator? It’s a call to arms for Facebook’s unofficial Committee for Being Chronically Unimpressed.

Let’s start with Sefton Dee Spade, who commented, “I’m sure it’s already filled with drug needles.” A bold claim considering the equipment hasn’t even been installed yet. But never mind reality—there’s sarcasm to deploy. This comment, dripping with cynicism, might’ve set a local record for the fastest descent into negativity under a post meant to celebrate something good.

Thankfully, Nina Marie was there with a polite reminder: “It’s actually a nice little park.” And Constance Sue followed with a plea we wish more people would heed: “Why be negative, Nelly?”

But the hits kept coming. Benny Onetime (Onetime what? Onetime had something postive to contribute?) weighed in with: “We already have a park to get shot at. We don’t need another.” That comment got seven laugh reacts—proving once again that in Streator, gallows humor isn’t just a genre, it’s a lifestyle.

Randy Brown tried to lighten the mood, reflecting, “Stacy Merriner would have enjoyed seeing children playing there,” while others like Jackie Gardner-Koncor added sincere optimism: “Love this for the west side kids!!!”

But then came the geographical confusion. Kim Pieper Dankenbring chimed in with, “Born & raised here and have no clue where this park is.” Kathy Svetz helpfully pointed out it’s next to the Armory, prompting Kim’s response: “Oh ok, never knew the name of it.” It’s a revealing moment—maybe the problem isn’t the park, but that we stopped noticing what’s already around us.

Meanwhile, Michael Retoff dropped in with some hometown nostalgia: “I remember playing my little league games there.” And Sylvia Reeland celebrated the project with excitement: “Was hoping it wasn’t just tore down to not be replaced,” to which Shannon Tamborrino replied, “Yay!!! Exciting.”

Then there were the realists-turned-moderators. Beth Riblet simply wrote, “CAN THE NEGATIVITY JUST STOP,” while Liza R. Leonard offered the day's truest truth: “PEOPLE CAN’T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT BASHING SOMETHING.”

Here’s the thing: Merriner Park doesn’t need to be perfect. It doesn’t need to be downtown Chicago’s Maggie Daley Park. It just needs to be a safe, fun space for kids in our own neighborhood. The Public Works Department has already improved accessibility, cleaned up old mulch, and prepped the area for the new equipment. This is the kind of maintenance and care we used to celebrate. Now it’s being treated like a government conspiracy to distract us from potholes.

Let’s not pretend a playground will solve all of Streator’s problems. But let’s also not pretend that giving kids a place to play is somehow a bad thing. If our reaction to new swings and a fresh layer of mulch is to shout “drug needles” or bemoan that “we already have a park to get shot at,” then maybe we’ve lost the plot—and the playground isn’t the thing that needs fixing.

Here’s an idea: when the new equipment is installed go visit Merriner Park. Watch a kid go down the slide or chase a butterfly near the newly cleared flower beds. Listen to the laughter. And remember that this city was built by people who believed we could improve things. Even with nothing but a pickaxe, a bottle mold, and a little hardscrabble grit.

We can still be that kind of town.

Or we can keep scrolling, commenting, and complaining—one angry emoji at a time.

The choice is ours.

—The Streator Standard  
*Progress, with a side of snark.*