KAILUA — A unique school playground built from recycled tires was partially demolished over the weekend, stunning parents and the community who built it and thought they had time to fix or replace problem areas.

The 'Aikahi Elementary School playground was designed about 15 years ago by the late Texas playground designer Jimi Jolley and built for about $20,000.

Parents paid for it, built it and maintained it. They were shocked when contractors under the direction of the state Department of Education ripped out all of the tires over the weekend without giving them a chance to mitigate problems or plan a transition, said Debbie Schatz, whose 10-year-old daughter attends the school.

"We felt like we were participating in a process in making the playground a better place for the kids," Schatz said, adding that the removal of the tires isn't the big problem. "The huge issue that you'll find when talking to other people is the trust issue. How did this happen so quickly, and are other things like that going to happen?"

In May the DOE determined after an inspection that the playground was no longer safe and wanted the equipment removed, said Gay Kong, school principal. The DOE spent $50,000 to take out about 200 tires, several boulders and three utility poles, Kong said.

The tires were her biggest concern and she said she had asked that only they be removed.

After 15 years of the playground serving the students well, the tires were disintegrating, losing their shape and shedding, Kong said. Sharp steel belts in some of the tires were exposed and the tires were considered a fire hazard, she said.

Other areas of concern are the hard sand surface and a wood climbing wall that threatens to fall over with a good hard push, she said.

"I've been forewarned for many years in a row or other administrators have been forewarned for nearly a decade that you need to get rid of this," Kong said. "For me to ignore it, that's negligence."

Kong said she explained the situation to key people in the school and even she was surprised at how quickly the department removed the equipment once she put in the request.

"I thought I had done my due diligence in informing those that would be interested in this issue," Kong said. "Beyond all of this is it's a safety issue. That's why they hired me, to keep these children safe."

Kong said she accepts responsibility for not getting the word out to more people and will issue a newsletter with questions and answers.

She praised the past efforts of the PTSA and said she is looking forward to working with its members on future plans for the playground.

Conventional playground equipment can cost upwards of $100,000 and take years to acquire. Some Hawai'i public schools went more than three years without play apparatus after theirs were deemed unsafe and removed in 1999.

The 'Aikahi structure used about 200 old tires to create such things as a dragon and included wood platforms, a tripod swing with tires joined together to create a bed for children to lay on and push around, and a zip line. During construction, hundreds volunteered their time and businesses donated material. It was a time of community building that the area had never seen before, said Kathy Bryant Hunter, the school's past PTSA president.

The DOE had never been happy with the whimsical structure and had always found fault with it but could never prove to the parents that it was more dangerous than any other playground, Bryant Hunter said. Over the years the parents made changes to appease the DOE and negotiated to retain the concepts of the original design. The PTSA thought it would continue that negotiation this year, she said.

"They were adamant about removing the tires and we thought this was going to be a discussion point," she said, adding that in the meantime parents completed annual maintenance on the playground, fixed problems and replaced the sand. About two weeks later and without much warning a contractor came in and removed the tires, boulders and utility poles.

"Obviously people are devastated that the playground is gone but I think even more upsetting to the parents and to the PTSA is the way the DOE handled it," Bryant Hunter said.

Two of Jolley's seven structures built on O'ahu remain as he designed them. The 'Aikahi playground retains some of his elements, and the other playgrounds have been removed, having fallen victim to termite damage, general deterioration and poor maintenance.

Randy Moore, head of the Office of School Facilities & Support Services, said the 'Aikahi inspection report concluded that the unsafe conditions, which have been a long-standing concern, should not be subject for discussion. His office wanted the danger removed before school started and preferably when students weren't around, making last Saturday an ideal time.

"This is not a clandestine middle-of-the-night operation intended to end-run anybody," Moore said. "We removed the elements that were unsafe. What is safe remains, and as soon as the surface is made safe again, it can reopen."

Moore applauded the PTSA's involvement and said he looks forward to working with it to plan improvements for the playground.