I have to say I am appalled at the site of this park around the fishing pond. It has been completely neglected by the city maintenance when it comes to the grounds keeping. Hundreds if not thousands of cigarette butts are all around the lake on the grass area, a ton of baked in goose and duck droppings along the sidewalks (not hard to power wash this), floating bloated dead fish found in a few spots (means they have been there for several days), trash floating around in the lake, several ducks are showing signs of either a hook or fishing line being swallowed, even found fishing line on the ground and a rusty hook, a pigeon flopped around and died a few feet from us on the bridge. My wife to say the least was horrified by the site and several children began crying from the sight of it. It is as if the city has given up on this park. Also it is apparent at this park that the city needs to do more for our homeless population. I am not degrading the homeless at all, I too was homeless once for a year, I am just stating an observation and wish the city would do more to help. Second, they should not have to deal with the conditions at this park, they deserve better than that. Us tax payers definitely should not have to deal with these conditions since our taxes pay for park maintenance.
I know this park has been neglected because my wife and I visited a month before and everything looked exactly the same, same old cigarette butts, lots of trash, fish hooks and fishing line, and dead fish. It is no wonder the wildlife is suffering. I honestly do not understand how anyone could feel safe consuming the fish in this water as the water itself is in a poor state. It is overpopulated by Algae and there are no live aquatic plants to sustain a properly balanced ecosystem. What this does is promote fish parasites that attack the gills and gut of the fish. This includes various parasitic worms that can be transferred to humans. Also affects the aquatic animals that live on the water and forage for food. The water is not being properly filtered either as the murkiness is so dense you cannot see a fish 3 inches below the surface. Another observation is that the bridge rails are chipping and beginning to show signs of rust. Look, I know this is an old park, but come on, it can be cared for better than this.
It is sad because this can be an absolute stunning park for everyone to enjoy. I have been considering becoming a park ranger for sometime and seeing this definitely pushes me to pursue it. Everyone deserves so much better than this. read more