The playground slide that 'looked INSANE.'

Good morning, it’s Thursday August 27. Today will be hot, humid and cloudy.

A friend who lives in West Adams recently texted me: “There was this slide that was erected at the Obama Rec Center near me and it looked INSANE. Like I don’t feel nervous about stuff like this and even I was like ‘What were you thinking?’!” She continued: “Some time in the spring it was removed and im curious how that happened. But the park still hasn’t opened or put anything substantive in its place.” 

My friend was far from the only West Adams resident to have taken notice of this slide. A Reddit post titled “This slide looks diabolical,” shared on r/LosAngeles, has racked up more than 600 likes and nearly 100 comments since it was posted six months ago. 

The slide elicited comparisons to the famous “cop slide” in Boston, a play structure situated across from Boston City Hall that went viral because of a video in which a police officer zooms down it, looking like a rag doll.

In a West Adams Facebook group, residents expressed a mix of surprise that the city had installed such a slide in the first place and disappointment that it was never opened to the public. 

“I feel like this photo does do justice for how tall this slide was! I was like how is it gonna be safe. But I also couldn’t wait to try it out. Damn,” one person wrote. 

On a diabolically hot day last week, I visited the fenced-off playground at the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex to investigate why that play structure was installed and then so quickly removed. I came back with a first-hand account of what it was like to actually fly down it.

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For today’s peek inside our member-only forum, @joshksky with a strong recommendation on the # things-to-do channel. 

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