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Decades of neglect finally caught up with the toboggan slides at Dan Ryan Woods.
 
Cook County commissioners voted Wednesday to demolish what's left of the once-popular, but long-closed wooden slides on the Far Southwest Side, opting to pay $87,000 to raze the structures rather than pony up nearly a million dollars to rebuild them.
 
The decision led some to wonder whether the forest preserve's other toboggan slides -- also closed because of their condition -- are next for the wrecking ball.
 
Commissioner Forrest Claypool cited "a level of incompetence" and "mismanagement" by the forest preserve district in allowing the slides to become so decrepit.
 
And he cautioned, "Once one of these toboggan slides goes down, it's not going back up again."
 
Commissioner John Daley, who represents the Dan Ryan Woods area, said he supports demolition of the two slides there because they are unsafe. The district is now exploring what to do with its five toboggan sites.