Five months after the playground at Hoyt Park on the corner of Dale Odell Drive and Third Street was damaged in a car crash, it’s still boarded up and has become a magnet for vandals.

A car crashed into a fire hydrant and then into the playground structure Nov. 29 after the driver passed out. The man died of a medical condition unrelated to the crash.

The city boarded up the playground structure and has tried to find someone to fix it.

“I’ve tried repeatedly to get a contractor or the manufacturer of the equipment to come out and give an estimate,” said parks maintenance supervisor Don Scholl.

He added that it’s more than a quick repair job that city crews would handle, but less than a full construction package that local contractors would be interested in.

The only people taking an interest in the playground are vandals. On Wednesday evening, a neighbor called police to report three teenage boys tearing out the plywood boards. Scholl said that happens regularly. He said vandals also broke off a crawl tube, which a public works crew fixed, and a slide, which must be replaced.

He said he called the company that built the playground, and a representative assured him there would be someone out to work on the structure next week.