There... just looking at those colorful flowers makes me feel better. :-)
I'm ready for the "green up" of spring and, in an urban area like District 2, the biggest green up happens in our parks.
According to a parcel map from UG staff, District 2 is home to 16 named parks:
- St. John's Park
- Huron Park
- 8th Street Park
- Woods Park
- Northrup Park
- Waterway Park
- Flatiron Park
- Splitlog Park
- Holy Family Park
- Simpson-Central Park
- St. Margaret's Park
- Lally Park
- Bethany Park
- Prescott Park
- Shawnee Park
- Bill Clem Park
Local parks guru Steve Curtis sent me a couple of very, very interesting links that give us an insight into the history of one of our District 2 parks: Waterway Park (11th Street and Grandview Boulevard).
Here's a paragraph from a web page entitled "A Brief History of Kansas City, Kansas Municipal Government". This particular paragraph was written about events in KCK around 1910.
"As it developed, the parks system eventually included six public swimming pools, together with bath house/recreation buildings in Shawnee Park and Clifton Park. (The Clifton Park pool had a natural sand beach.) The most elaborate development within the new park system was Waterway Park, which stretched along an old watercourse from Washington Boulevard on the north to Grandview Boulevard on the south, and included as its centerpiece a sunken water garden in the block between State and Minnesota Avenues."
If you've never read the "brief history" web page, definitely click this link:
http://web.archive.org/web/19970210052718/www.kckcc.cc.ks.us/kck/kckhist.htm
The document traces the history of Kansas City, Kansas from the late 1800s to the late 1900s. It was published online as part of a collection of materials related to the consolidation of Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County in 1997. This historical narrative was assembled from materials previously prepared by: Ralph W. Armstrong Jr., William L. Lebovich, Camille Ellett, Jerome Paul Laysaught, Larry K. Hancks, Joseph H. McDowell, Grant W. Harrington, Mary Flanagan Rupert, Margaret Landis, and Edwin Dale Shutt II.
It's a completely fascinating read that we'll definitely visit again. But now, back to parks.
Here's a planting map for the Waterway Park complex as prepared by the Landscape Architectural firm of Hare and Hare sometime around 1910.
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| Definitely click on this image to enlarge it so that you can see the incredible detail. Alternately, here's a link that points to the original document online: http://bit.ly/1vpRPzP |
I grew up in this neighborhood in the 60s and 70s and I never remember a "sunken water garden" between Minnesota and State nor a lake in what is now Waterway Park. All I remember is a hole in the ground with the crumbling remains of a park that looked it had once been pretty neat.
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| Here's a Google map screen shot that I roughly cropped to match the site plan pictured above. Only Big Eleven Lake remains of the "waterway" features of the original park. |
Over the past several years, the Unified Government and community partners like Community Housing of Wyandotte County have worked magic in reinventing Waterway Park and enhancing its value in the community.
But what happened? Why did this urban oasis disappear in the mid to late 1900s and need to be recreated?
But what happened? Why did this urban oasis disappear in the mid to late 1900s and need to be recreated?
Like all other city infrastructure, parks can be more expensive to maintain than to build.
I'm guessing that, as the city grew and as people moved from the urban core to new suburban neighborhoods, local government simply did not have the resources to maintain urban parks to anywhere near their former glory.
We still face that same challenge today.
A report titled, "Revitalizing Inner City Parks: New Funding Options Can Address the Needs of Underserved Urban Communities" states, "While interest in city parks is reviving and governments and civic groups around the country are revitalizing run-down city parks, the current economic downturn in states and cities and severe budget restraints are still a major threat to the health of existing parks, and the creation of new parks." (National Recreation and Park Association http://www.nrpa.org/uploadedFiles/nrpaorg/Grants_and_Partners/Recreation_and_Health/Resources/Issue_Briefs/Urban-Parks.pdf)
I had the pleasure of meeting the UG's new Director of Parks and Recreation last week. Jeremy Rogers comes to Wyandotte County from Independence, Missouri where he served for many years as Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation.
He is still in the process of learning about our parks and visiting them to gauge their strengths and weaknesses, but he said that he already has some ideas on positive steps we can take toward improvement.
Ultimately, though, it's going to take resources. You and I will need to work together on that.
If you haven't already, send me an email or head over to my Commissioner page on Facebook and give me your perspective on the following questions:
- What parks do you visit?
- In the grand scheme of things, is maintaining and improving our parks a high, medium or low priority for you?
- What could we (UG and community) do to enhance your use and enjoyment of the parks you visit?
Have a great week!
~ Brian
Email: bmckiernan@wycokck.org
