The city has removed the jungle gym playground equipment and swing set at Koko Head District Park, saying the equipment was not safe.

There are no plans in the immediate future to replace the swings and jungle gym that were removed from the entrance to the park near the tennis courts, said city spokesman Bill Brennan. The equipment was on dirt and not a resilient surface, he said.

Nick Wong, an area resident and baseball league organizer, said he did not receive advance warning about the removal of the equipment.

"It makes no sense to me," Wong said. "The parks people say that if you want to use a playground, you should go to Koko Head Community Park at the school. But what about the kids around here?"

At the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board meeting last week, Mary Houghton, the board's Park and Recreation Committee chairwoman, said she had not been informed of the playground equipment removal before it was taken out.

"I have not had an answer yet to my question on why the playground equipment was removed," Houghton said.

Koko Head District Park was established in 1975 to meet the growing population demands of Hawai'i Kai. The park has four youth baseball fields, six tennis courts, two basketball courts, one volleyball court and a fitness center. There's also a gym, locker rooms, arts and crafts rooms and meeting rooms. Goeas Fields, which was recently overhauled by the city and is not open yet, will be the park's fifth baseball field.

A new playground was part of a master plan prepared by the city and approved by the community in 2000, but no additions have been built. The master plan for the 59-acre park called for a pool, soccer and multi-purpose fields, an in-line hockey skating rink, walking paths, a super playground, a tot lot, a teen center and more tennis courts.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.