Corvallis School District Superintendent Dawn Tarzian expects that people will miss Wildcat Park. So many people have a memory associated with it, including a district employee who met her future husband there when the two visited the park with their children.

The report that the artistic wooden play structure is now unsafe for children — after less than 17 years — is disappointing. Given how popular this feature had become, we wanted it to last forever. From the start, building it brought together the school district, the city’s parks and recreation department and interested residents to create the attraction, designed by nationally known playground architect Robert Leathers and built by community volunteers.

Few things bring a community together more than building a playground that becomes a point of pride and unity. This one was a child’s dream. For hours, the play structure provided a setting where kids could pretend to be negotiating a fort, castle, bridge or other fanciful location limited only by a child’s imagination.

Friday, a few students from Wilson Elementary School had just a few minutes to crawl over the structure one last time. No doubt they will miss it. It’s daunting when you’re a kid to one day see a chain-link fence go up around your favorite play area.

At fault isn’t time or negligence but bad wood treatment. The soft-wood structure was supposed to last much longer — at least 20 years — but a recent city inspection turned up enough dryrot to cause concerns that it isn’t safe. Even if it isn’t obviously unstable, the legal liability that the district would risk in not closing off the structure gave the district no choice but to close down Wildcat.

However, we had to quibble slightly with a phrase that has been used in connection with the statement that Wildcat Park “is at the end of its useful life.” Only the play structure is, and that is replaceable. We could have a near-duplicate (perhaps built of a different material), if we wanted one. So while the end of this structure is regrettable, it represents another chance for the community to create another play structure even more innovative, fun and perhaps longer-lasting.

Some of the district’s leftover capital improvement money could be used as seed money for organization and materials. Volunteers could research the coolest new trends in playground construction. For example, some play structures are of boards from recycled plastic, with floors that are made of old tires that cushion the fall, should an intrepid young climber slip.

A good starting point would be an Internet link where Corvallis residents could log on to share their ideas on the future look of Wildcat Park.