The department is getting ready to introduce park improvements at Douglass Park. These improvements include the construction of a "sprayground" and renovation of the baseball field.
The sprayground will certainly be a unique feature in Douglass. When the Douglass Pool is open for use, the sprayground will only be available to those that pay their $1.00 entry fee and enter the pool. When the pool is closed, we will have gates that will open to the park and allow park users to enter the sprayground area, but not the pool. This is done to provide aquatic experiences for a longer period of time. For example, Douglass Pool usually opens after school lets out and closes in mid-August. The sprayground will be open from May to the end of September providing park users more opportunities to enjoy themselves.
Improvements to the Douglass baseball field include grading work, new fence down the foul lines, additional storage for equipment and additional lighting. This program has grown over the years almost to the point of needing additional fields.
Our department strongly believes that positive activities will deter negative activities from happening. Last year we rarely had problems during the baseball league games and when the pool was open. There was just too many people there that cared about the parks. Research has shown that the worst thing you can do to prevent crime is to let the facilities deteriorate or shut them down. That only makes it less inviting to those that want to enjoy themselves.
There are more users coming back to the park as well. For example, we had 5,626 visits to the pool in 2008. This is a 54.73% increase over the 3,636 visits in 2007. Plus, 2008 was one of the worst seasons for pool use due to all of the rain!
Check out the proposed improvements and if you have any comments, please don't hesitate to post them or send them our way.
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