Jackson playgrounds reopen as coronavirus restrictions ease

After begin closed more than two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the swings, slides and climbing areas in Jackson’s park playgrounds are open once again.

“We’ve been raring to go for some time now,” said Jackson parks and recreation director Shane Anderson on Tuesday as he and his staff began opening the city’s 12 play areas — 10 in Jackson City Park and one each in Jackson Soccer Park and Brookside Park, adjacent to the Sunset Hills subdivision.

“The whole reason I got into parks and recreation is to watch kids have fun,” he said. “They’re super excited to get out and play and have been talking to me about it every day.”

Reopening of the playgrounds, as well as the two basketball courts in Jackson City Park, coincided with the next phase of Missouri’s Show Me Strong Recovery plan, lifting a variety of statewide restrictions related to the coronavirus outbreak. The playgrounds were closed April 3 and their reopening, Anderson said, is being done in accordance with guidelines issued by the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Signs were posted in the playgrounds Tuesday encouraging people to practice social distancing as much as possible while using playground equipment.

Although the playgrounds were closed for much of the spring, walking trails, pavilions and other park areas remained open.

“For the most part, I think everybody in the park followed social-distancing guidelines and stayed out of areas we had blocked off,” he said. “They were really compliant.”

Play areas in Cape County Park North and Cape County Park South, both of which were closed April 7, were reopened by mid-May while the City of Cape Girardeau opened most playgrounds in city parks by Memorial Day.

In addition to reopening the playgrounds in Jackson, city officials have also announced the Jackson Civic Center is now operating without occupancy limits. However, social distancing and the use of face masks will continue to be encouraged for the protection of guests and Civic Center employees.

The Jackson Municipal Swimming Pool opened last week and is restricting attendance to about 50% capacity or no more than 147 people, but Anderson said that during the first few days of the pool’s operation, daily attendance has been substantially below that.

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