Three parks in Lathrop are getting an upgrade.

And that means that they’ll be out of commission for the time being.

According to Lathrop City Hall the playground surfaces at Valverde Park, Mossdale Park and Woodfield Park are all closed for varying lengths of time while city crews prepare to remove the existing bark and replace it with a rubberized playing surface that provides cushioning and impact absorptions as well as removing the need for constant maintenance.

Valverde Park closed on Oct. 12 and will remain closed through Oct. 29 as crews remove the wood bark and install a poured rubberized surface in its place. Mossdale Park closed on Monday and will remain closed through Nov. 5 for the same purpose. Woodfield Park also closed on Monday to undergo the removal and replacement of the entire play structure as well as rubberized surfacing.

The funding to complete all three projects is coming from the city’s Measure C fund – collected in the extra cent of sales tax that voters overwhelmingly approved in 2012. That funding also pays for fire personnel – 40 percent of the collected money goes to the Lathrop Manteca Fire District – and has been used to hire additional police personnel that were cut during the collapsing housing market.

All Measure C spending is approved by an independent citizen’s oversight committee.