It has been over a month since Governor J.B. Pritzker has issued his original shelter in place mandate.
As of April 23rd, the Village of Manteno has finally closed all of their playground equipment off from the public, per the village website.
The website states that walking spaces at parks remain open, however, “all playground equipment including the jumping pillow and fountain at the Square are closed until it is safe to congregate again”.
Despite neighboring communities complying with the order within hours or days of the governor’s mandate, Manteno playground equipment had yet not been barred from being used by its citizens.
On April 7th, the Country Herald had posted a story, in which Mayor Tim Nugent stated during the previous evening’s Village Board Meeting, that the parks were too difficult to police, and that residents should use the equipment at their own risk.
“I know that there is going to people by and they’re going to see kids that are there and they’re too close and they’re not going to like that. I guess my question there is ‘why aren’t they at home themselves,’” said Manteno Mayor Tim Nugent Monday night. “(Parks and Playgrounds) are almost impossible to be able to Police.”
As of April 23rd, there have been 289 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kankakee County, resulting in 19 deaths, per the Illinois Department of Public Health.
A link to the original article from April 7th, is featured below.
