Demolition began this morning on the toboggan slides at Swallow Cliff Forest Preserve near Palos Park, IL.

Crews started work at the bottom of the slide hill, tearing out the 800-foot chutes that have gone unused for four years and fallen into disrepair.

Despite pleas from local leaders and toboggan fans, Cook County officials said the $4 million price tag for repairing the slides was too high. The county will spend about $108,000 to demolish the slides. The Cook County Forest Preserve District voted last October to remove them.

The debate about what to do with the slides is years old. There has been discussion about repairing the slides or creating other winter recreational uses at the Palos Township park, county officials decided that the toboggan slides should be removed. The slides were in bad shape, were rarely open in recent years and pose a safety risk, forest preserve officials said.