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Ruark resigns as park director; Keeney to take interim role
The 27-month reign of Greg Ruark as Greencastle park director came to an end Tuesday when he resigned in a letter to Mayor Lynda Dunbar.
His letter suggested he would stay on through the Celebrate 4 Fourth of July event, however, Mayor Dunbar said she “told him he could be done today.”
“I was surprised when I got the letter today,” the mayor told the Banner Graphic, adding that she promptly called Cemetery Supt. Jason Keeney and “took him totally off-guard” when she suggested he assume the park role on an interim basis.
Keeney will take over park duties on Wednesday, just eight days before the July 4th festivities that were recently moved to Big Walnut Sports Park.
It would seem that timing couldn’t be worse after Assistant Park Director Chrysta Snellenberger announced last week that she will have knee surgery on Thursday and could miss 6-8 weeks of work.
“Timing is good,” the mayor countered, explaining that she will be meeting with the Park Board over the next few weeks “to determine what the direction of the Greencastle Parks Department is going to be.”
“We have great facilities and a great, beautiful park,” Dunbar said, noting that “a lot of minor issues” played a role in some of the recent frustrations with park operations.
Those have included the potential demise of the Emerald Palace playground (perhaps not as bad as it seemed), a delay in the construction project encompassing Phase II of the Robe-Ann Park renovation that prompted the fireworks move and the aquatic center water leak that has closed the city pool for at least five days during one of the hottest stretches of the season and resulted in an estimated $20,000 in water loss.
Stressing the positive, Mayor Dunbar said Keeney will be responsible for “getting everything going by the Fourth,” noting that the remainder of the park staff will retain normal duties.
As interim director, Keeney temporarily succeeds the 65-year-old Ruark who took over March 16, 2022. Ruark, who had served four years with the Terre Haute Parks Department previously, succeeded Rod Weinschenk, who resigned in November 2021 after 20 years as park director.
The process of selecting a new park director will be part of the ongoing discussions with the Park Board, Dunbar said.