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Editor's Note: This post is in response to Jim and Susie Carpenter's post, found here.
I have to say that the letter from Jim and Susie Carpenter was very well written. Their concerns for our city parks is shared by many including me and my family. Although I do not live within the city limits, I have Grandchildren who do. Not opening the pool at South Park along with not offering aerobics at south school and seriously considering not opening the City Pool, and all the issues surrounding the hot topic of “no money” has gotten pretty tiring. I agree with the Carpenters.
There are other ways to support the parks and the pools. It takes someone who will take the time to make contacts with businesses and let them know the situation that the City or the Park Board is in. I do not believe that everyone understands exactly what is happening with the parks.
Who is exactly responsible for running them? Who is going to take the responsibility to correct the issues. Can the city and the park board work together to figure out why and how to fix the problems. It seems to continue to be a City and County issue. If the parks are in the city limits then the city should take responsibility for them. I guess the question I have is who has the money to operate them? If the city has control of the money then why isn’t there a City Parks Department anymore? If the County has the money, then let the county maintain all the parks and the issues of keeping them open should then fall to the County.
The City Park and South Park are the two parks that I would imagine are used the most inside the City limits. These two parks should be open and all the facilities operating. Do we have a budget in place to maintain and keep these two parks operating?
Not having concessions at the city pool is also a concern. Surely, there is some community organization that could operate that. (Don’t high school kids have to do so much community service to graduate)? Why can’t Greenville City Schools set up something that each summer, the junior class or another group at the school (under the supervision of a teacher or community person) volunteer so many hours each week to maintain the concession stands? I love the “green” spaces of Greenville. Probably a lot of others do too.
Let’s come up with some ideas on how to keep them clean and running so all of us can enjoy them; now and in the future. What are other cities and counties doing to promote and maintain their parks?
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