Picher mayor wants park closed due to risk

PICHER, Okla. (AP) -- The mayor of Picher in Ottawa County wants to close the town's community park because of a chance it could cave in to a depth of 50 feet.<br/><br/>Mayor Sam Freeman says he wants

Thursday, February 2nd 2006, 11:07 am

By: News On 6

PICHER, Okla. (AP) -- The mayor of Picher in Ottawa County wants to close the town's community park because of a chance it could cave in to a depth of 50 feet.

Mayor Sam Freeman says he wants to fence off Reunion Park because of a federal study that found several areas of concern.

The study of the Picher, Cardin and Hockerville areas says there are 286 locations vulnerable to collapse because of old mineshafts in the area. There are six churches, four playgrounds and parks, the Picher Mining Field Museum, eleven businesses and 139 homes on the at-risk list.