Posted at: 08/10/2009 10:14 PM
Updated at: 08/11/2009 5:13 PM
By: Eyewitness News 4

Kids turn junk lot into playground

Kids from the Cielo Grande subdivision work on their makeshift playground

One person's trash has become someone else's playground in Rio Rancho.

The nearest playground for the kids of the Cielo Grande subdivision is a mile-and-a-half away. So the kids formed a group and improvised a playground with illegally discarded items in a nearby lot.

"We have limited supplies, so we have to use junk, like couches," said Isaiah Franklin.

So instead of slipping down a slide, the kids slide down a trench. Things like pipes and mattresses are are styled into playground equipment.

Resident Ed Wittie has seen the junk evolve into a makeshift playground.

"They just started a little fort out here, little by little it started growing, and somebody dumped some couches behind the street right here," he said.

Wittie talked to Rio Rancho Parks and Recreation about getting a real park or playground. But because the subdivision is under 25 acres, the city told him the builder wasn't obligated to put up a park.

Wittie says the makeshift playground has caused a little controversy among homeowners.

"It just got to, where are these kids going to go? And then people calling people bad parents because their kids are out here in the first place," he said.

The kids admit their play place is a bit dangerous, with cactus and scorpions in the area. But they have resolved to look out for each other.

Homeowners will meet this weekend to figure out what to do with all the junk. They are thinking about hauling it away and putting up a wall of hay bales.