Regarding the removal of the Big Red Slide in Hines
By Mindy Gould on Friday, June 6th, 2025 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
HINES(Release issued from the City of Hines)-It is the end of an era!
The City of Hines has removed the Big Red Slide from the City Park and donated it to the Harney County Museum for display.
The slide was built in 1949, and safety standards have undergone significant changes in the past 76 years, which the slide has not met as it aged.
While there are many questions and complaints about why the City had to remove the slide, the answer is simple. In 2021, Citycounty Insurance Services (CIS) removed all insurance coverage from the city’s parks because the slide is too dangerous to insure. “It’s too tall, it’s too old, and it’s too much of an attractive nuisance.” The City suggested several different options, including adding fall protection, guards, and handrails, lowering the slide, and bringing in dirt to create a hill under the slide. Removing the steps to the slide and building a fence around it so that it wasn’t accessible but still intact as a monument and a few other ideas were proposed, but CIS refused all.
The previous and current administrations attempted to find different insurance options and alternatives to allow the City to keep the slide. However, no insurance company would insure the park as it was, with the red slide still in place. So, the City had no options. It was either leave the slide and hope that no one was significantly injured and the city wasn’t sued or remove the slide.
A parks committee was formed in 2023 to explore alternatives and update playground equipment as the City of Hines applied for the ORPD grant to update the City park. Once the City was awarded the funds, plans were drawn to incorporate the existing slide. The committee reached out to many playground equipment contractors for ideas on how to integrate and update the slide to meet today’s safety standards, but no company was willing to work on or with a 76-year-old slide.
City staff visited both Hines Middle School and the Kids’ Club of Harney County, meeting with children and students aged 5 to 14. The consensus about the playground equipment, including the red slide, was it was old, not fun, and dangerous to play on. Since the parks committee was comprised of adults who were unlikely to be playing on the equipment, a kids’ committee was formed.
The kid’s committee was made up of five boys and six girls, and their parents held a meeting at Hines City Hall to choose new equipment. The new playground equipment picked by the kids committee includes a 12-foot tall dual tower play structure with five slides, a merry-go-round, and a 50’ zipline.
As the City, we understand the historical value the slide holds, as well as the memories it evokes, and we are pleased that the slide will stay in the community on display at the Harney County Museum for years to come.
