WOODSTOCK, N.Y. -- The Woodstock community has come together to fight to preserve what they're calling a symbol of their uniqueness. A place where their children have spent countless hours storming castles, crawling through tunnels, and climbing monkey bars.

"My children are absolutely devastated. They can't imagine this playground not being here," said Lara McGlynn, co-founder of Save Wonderworks. "It provides such a place for incredible imaginative play."

The 26-year-old playground is a kid favorite. Advocates agree that it's outdated and needs some work, but strongly oppose the schools decision to destroy and replace the structure entirely. School officials however are calling it dangerous, and say that inspectors have been calling for its replacement for years.

"The playground that's there was put up in 1989, the expected life span was about 25 years so it's come to the end of its useful life," said Victoria McLaren, acting superintendent of Onteora School District.

School officials say the playground poses a threat to children. That's because blind spots make it difficult for teachers to keep an eye on them.

District officials met with members of Save Wonderworks during a closed meeting on Tuesday. The group says the district flatly rejected their proposal of restoring the site, a plan they say would save the district money.

"Right now, the district what they've allocated for the playground is just shy of $200,000 dollars, and the estimates that we have from the original builders of the playground is about $150,000 dollars," said McGlynn.

An online petition calling for the playground to be saved was created last week and has already garnered close to 600 signatures. Among them is Woodstock festival founder Michael Lang.

"The Wonderworks playground embodies the spirit of artistic expression and individuality the drew me to Woodstock.  It should be preserved at all costs," Lang said.

Community members say that they will continue to push for the preservation of Wonderworks, and that they will take legal action if need be.