In June, Irkutsk will begin installing children's and sports playgrounds under eight new design projects. The city budget has allocated 35 million rubles for this, 72 playgrounds will appear in different districts, including a football field, a basketball court, roller rinks and play complexes for children of different ages. All structures are made using Finnish technology and are designed for safety, and the authorities remind that the preservation of the playgrounds also depends largely on residents themselves.

In June, the installation of children’s and sports playgrounds based on eight new design projects will begin in Irkutsk. This was announced today at a press conference by Sergei Chertkov, head of the city administration’s Department of Road Construction, Improvement, and Transport.
He emphasized that, despite the crisis, 35 million rubles have been allocated from the city budget in 2009 for the installation of children’s and sports playgrounds (of which 26,627 rubles are for equipment and 8,373 for landscaping the areas). With this money, 72 children’s complexes will be installed in various districts of the city. These include a football field in the Oktyabrsky District, a basketball court in the Leninsky District, three roller rinks in the Sverdlovsky District, and 67 playgrounds with slides, swings, carousels, and sand play areas for children of different age groups. The playgrounds are manufactured using Finnish technology, from materials that eliminate the possibility of injuries to children. For five years now, they have been installed in Irkutsk courtyards and have proven themselves in the best possible way.
“Since 2004, about six hundred children’s and sports playgrounds have been installed in the city,” Sergei Chertkov said. “Every year we update the designs; only the quality standards remain unchanged. Last year, 142 children’s and sports playgrounds were installed in Irkutsk for a total of 63 thousand rubles.”
Sergei Chertkov also noted that vandalism remains the main problem, although there are now far fewer such incidents than in 2004 and 2005. He attributes this to the fact that even the most hardened “enthusiasts” of twisting off and breaking things have already come to understand that destroying children’s swings is sacrilege. Nevertheless, much depends on the local residents themselves—mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers—who must become the main “guardians” of the playgrounds.