On July 10, two young boys set fire to the Mountain View Elementary's westside playground. The damage was close to $100,000. The Anchorage School District quickly removed the damaged portions of the playground and removed all rubber grounded that was tarnished with foam used to put out the fire. The school district said they would replace the equipment to they way it was. A price tag of around $75,000.
"We're thinking this is a good opportunity to convert that playground to age two and up exclusively," Mountain View Principal Chris Woodward said. "We do have a couple of pre-schools in this building that serve about 40 to 45 kids. Those kids currently can't use that equipment It's too big or too high for them. It poses safety concerns. Right now, they can only use about a third of the equipment out there. Their area is serviceable and kids adapt but we really needed it safe enough for the younger students."
The Mountain View Community Council, State Senator Tom Begich and State Rep. Geran Tarr along with a handful of others decided to push forward for a more advanced playground.