Musings on Indy Parks

Let me start by saying I support public parks and strongly desire them to be used more. It is because of that predilection that I feel compelled to share my Indy Parks experience from today.

Of course, being a late-July Sunday with highs in the mid-80s and sunshine as far as the eye can see, I was interested in taking my family to one of the numerous parks around the city with a water feature. My wife went to Tarkington Park, near the corner of 39th and Illinois, for an event yesterday and raved about the park. We decided to go back.

As an initial observation, the city and the Indy Parks Foundation have clearly invested a lot of money into this park. There is brand new playground equipment, astroturf, and a building that appears to be a community center. This is a huge improvement from the barren baseball field, weedy basketball courts, and rarely used tennis courts that were there before. Here is a picture of the park:

As you can see, there are clearly improvements and investment here. Fitting for a hot day such as today, it also has a splash pad for kids. Here is a picture:

Regrettably, today, the supervisor in charge of the splash pad did not leave any keys to the facility so that it could be turned on by the on-staff personnel. Let me say that again, the day after a hugely successful event designed to spotlight this park, incompetent management rendered it useless.

So, after about an hour of waiting for the on-duty staff to get in touch with the right person (which the staff represented was an unsuccessful effort), we decided to go to Riverside Park. For the uninitiated, Riverside Park has an exceptional facility. I had never been there before, and I was immediately impressed that they had one of those kiddie pools that was a gradual decline into the pool all the way around, replete with splash pad features and a small playground/waterslide in the kiddie pool.

As I tried to take my 2-year-old daughter (who loves the water) into the kiddie pool, I was scolded by a lifeguard who told me that it was a "safety break" and the kiddie pool was closed. Always one to cooperate, I obligingly took my daughter and patiently waited, assuming that this was a standard once/hour break. After about 10 minutes, my wife asked someone when they expected this pool to open, and it was then that we were informed that they had problems with the chemicals. I presume that the staff is not entrusted with balancing the pool chemicals, so again, I am left with the unavoidable conclusion that, after an investment of millions of dollars into this facility, incompetent management renders it useless.

Now, I don't want to go on a rant here, but this is a problematic pattern. I am a supporter of parks, and I have given both money and time to their fundraising efforts in the past. However, I can't help but think that the next time I am approached for money or asked to play a charity to raise money, I will have today's experience in the back (or fore) of my mind. I will think about Tarkington Park and wonder why should we invest millions of dollars into a facility that the management can't seem to keep open? I will wonder the exact same thing as I think about Riverside. How many millions of dollars have been invested in that facility, only to have it be closed on the nicest weekend day of the year?

The fact of the matter is that I can't come back tomorrow, as I have to work. This is the case for most people. Further, we are (like most people) quite busy and rarely have a weekend day to do things like this. Today was a disappointing showing for Indianapolis' public parks.

To broaden the scope of my comments, I will say that I am a supporter of an active government generally; however, when government demonstrates its incompetence, it sours even a guy like me, who is predisposed to support government efforts. No doubt there are plenty of citizens of this great city who believe that investing in parks is a waste of money, even in the best of situations. I can only imagine what takeaway they would have after today if my takeaway is this bad.