Roxhill Park is under temporary closure as a result of the failure of a key piece of equipment, the landmark of the park in fact the "Turret" in the central structure of the park. The Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council contacted Seattle Parks to report that the turret was leaning substantially to the left (though they noted that it has leaned somewhat since it was installed) and was worsening.

Carol Baker of Seattle Parks replied:
"We had our parks engineer, architect and trades staff out earlier this week.  They are developing plans but it will be repaired on site.  Won’t know timeline until plans are finished but will let you know when I do." Baker later contacted the council and said, "Initial plan was as I said below (above).  However,  there are people in the department who are concerned that the safest approach will be to temporarily remove the head.  When it comes to safety we must error on the side of caution."

Seattle Parks Joelle Hammerstad explained further after we inquired.

"The turret over the play structure is an art project that is filled with reflective tiles that are quite heavy. A recent inspection has our structural engineer concerned that the tiles may be too heavy for the Trex structure onto which they have been attached.

Out of an abundance of caution, we closed the structure -- for the moment. We're going to bring in a truck to pluck the turret off the top of the structure and re-open the play equipment to kids.

We'll take the turret back to our Westbridge maintenance facility (located in West Seattle) to strengthen it before taking it back and replacing it.

We don't know when that truck will be out, but we're trying to get it out there tomorrow.

Our preference would have been to notify the community before the fences went up, but we felt it was important to act quickly."