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Emerald Palace may just need big makeover instead
Like Mark Twain and Paul McCartney before it, rumors of the death of the Emerald Palace playground have been greatly exaggerated.
At least that’s the word following an assessment of the Robe-Ann Park amenity and a report to the Greencastle Park Board.
“I don’t think it needs to be torn down,” assured longtime board member Tim Trigg, who volunteered on the 2001 project that built the Emerald Palace on a rainy and cold weekend.
“Maybe some things need to be replaced,” Trigg continued. “It needs to be sealed. It needs to be sanded. It needs some nuts and bolts and to get rid of the rust and take the tire swing out.”
The Emerald Palace also definitely needs TLC and regular maintenance, something that hasn’t always happened very often.
It was at the March Park Board meeting that members were told the wooden playground -- product of a community blitz construction effort spearheaded by the Greencastle Civic League that won 2001 Citizen of the Year honors for its three main organizers, Denise Sigworth, Rachel Seipel and Lynn Wilson -- is deteriorating and needs to be taken down before it falls down.
Park officials said Civic League members have seen the June 3 detailed report from RecWise of Oshtemo, Mich., which flagged 29 items in need of attention. Inspector Tricia Keala actually recommended full replacement of the composite structures and swings, noting that “the beloved play structures have reached the end of their life cycle.”
That’s not how city officials see it.
In a letter to the Park Board, Keala noted that choosing repair over replacement looms as “both cost prohibitive and not in the best interest of equitable childhood development.”
“Frequent routine maintenance and preventative maintenance is critical,” the inspector noted after spending a day and a half in Robe-Ann Park, “and should be a part of your operating budget and labor schedule.”
Park Board President Cathy Merrell suggested doing the work in increments would be a doable alternative.
One of the goals of any work will be to make the playground -- and the park as whole -- more ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) accessible.
That would include “something different for the flooring,” Merrell noted, adding that mulch or chunks of rubber “are not good for a wheelchair.”
The surface needs to be a certain thickness, Assistant Park Director Chrysta Snellenberger explained, “so if a child falls from a certain height ...” In other words, the youngster’s potential for injury would not be as great.
“Do we have any playgrounds that are ADA accessible?” Merrell asked.
“Not really,” she was told. Even the playground at Big Walnut Sports Park has mulch.
Mayor Lynda Dunbar suggested that installation of an ADA-accessible playground at Robe-Ann Park might be a goal.
The biggest thing in the RecWise report, the mayor said, seems to be that the tire swing needs to be removed. “We could invest in some swingset structures,” she added.
Trigg noted that the items in the report could be addressed “a little at a time.”
“Looking at the report, most of the stuff is minor that we could do,” he added. “We definitely need to prioritize.”
Trigg also noted that the Emerald Palace doesn’t appear to have been sanded or sealed in at least two years, “and it shows.”
“Now that we have the report,” board President Merrell said, “we need to get with the Civic League and prioritize things. We should invite them to come to the next Park Board meeting. They ought to be included in how we move forward.”
The Civic League had not been advised back in March when the initial possibility of razing the structure was brought up publicly for the first time.
“There’s a lot of historic significance to that wooden structure,” a surprised Mayor Dunbar said at the time. “We’re one of a few places in Indiana who have a wooden structure like that.”
Not only has the Emerald Palace been closed for safety reasons since but it also has been off-limits during Phase II of the Robe-Ann reconstruction project currently under way. However, that didn’t keep juvenile vandals from doing damage to the playground as well as newly poured concrete.
Several of the pickets identifying donors to the playground project were spray-painted recently as the juveniles “tagged” the Emerald Palace, new sidewalk and other spots in the park. City Police are reportedly reviewing surveillance camera video taken at the park concerning the incident.
In other business, the Park Board:
• Heard Recreation Director Ashley Crady report that registration is full for the return of the SPARK program with 150 youngsters signed up. Nine leaders and 14 junior leaders will be on hand for the Monday-Thursday program that runs from 9 a.m. to noon July 8-Aug. 1 at Robe-Ann Park.
• Heard Crady also report that the recent fishing derby at Jaycee Park had 55 kids participating, the most in several years.
• Heard the mayor grant permission for an expenditure of up to $1,000 for a new freezer for the pool concession stand after an old piece of equipment failed.
• Approved use of the Robe-Ann bandshell on Sunday, Sept. 15 for the Christian Motorcycle Association to have praise bands perform from 5 p.m. on and show the movie “The Story of Jesus Christ” on a blow-up screen beginning at about 8:15 p.m.
• Heard the mayor urge the signs at Jaycee Park to reflect no boating or kayaking on the pond. She had received a request from someone who wanted to kayak there.
• Approved use of Big Walnut Sports Park for the Aug. 10 Color Run.
Merrell and Trigg were joined for the 90-minute June meeting by Doug Hutchison. Fellow board member Scott Hamilton was absent.
The next meeting of the Greencastle Park Board is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 3 at the park office in Robe-Ann Park.