The Knox City Council learned this week of ongoing vandalism at Wythogan Park.
Park Superintendent George Byer has informed authorities that there is some form of vandalism at the park on a constant basis. Recently a picnic table was thrown into the river, a toilet was blown up by a firecracker, two fountains were destroyed and the cannon in the park has also suffered damage from vandals.
The installation of the new playground equipment for Wythogan Park has hit a bit of a snag. Park Superintendent George Byer told the city council at their meeting last week that the equipment was delivered, but it had been damaged during shipment. As a result, the installation of the equipment is on hold until the replacement equipment has been received from American Playground. The company has agreed to deliver new equipment themselves to the park.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers explained a number of points to the city council this week, including an update from Park Superintendent George Byer on the status of winterization and fence repairs in Wythogan Park.
Byer explained that the winterization process will soon begin for the park, in which the park equipment will be prepared for the upcoming winter season to prevent any damage caused by the weather. Byer said they’ll also begin working on the repairs for the fence this weekend if weather permits, but if not, the repairs will have to wait until Monday morning. Byer said both fences will soon be repaired.
The Knox City Council learned last night that the cleanup at Wythogan Park should be complete today or tomorrow, but Park Superintendent George Byer said that does not include cleanup toward the back of the park. He said the walkway area will be completely cleared this week after more than 125 tree stumps were ground down and more than 40 root balls removed from the walking path area.
Mayor Rick Chambers requested permission from the council to use funds that had been previously approved to cut down cottonwood trees in the park. He said they had planned to use $1500 to remove the trees because they thought they were growing into the sewer lines, which could cause severe problems, but he said the loggers working on the park’s cleanup were able to remove those trees at no additional cost.
“It’s starting to look like a park again.”
Knox Park Superintendent George Byer says the cleanup at Wythogan Park is nearing completion, and the park is almost clear enough to allow visitors once again. With brush pickup said to be roughly two-thirds complete, and the cleanup of trees and hanging branches almost halfway complete, Byer says the park doesn’t look so much like a disaster area anymore.
“The park is looking great compared to what it was here a month ago,” Byer said. “It takes time to clean up a disaster like we’ve got. I think we’re moving along very well with it.”
With cooler weather in the air, many people have wondered when Wythogan Park in Knox would be closed.
WKVI News posed that question to George Byer, the Park Superintendent, last week.
“The way things have been going and the way the weather is, we usually do it on a year-to-year basis,” said Byer. “The way it looks, with the Indian Summer that we’ve had here the past week, we’re going to keep the park open until we’re forced to by Mother Nature and the snow. It’ll be open until it gets cold enough to where the water lines may freeze.”
Just because it’s October doesn’t mean the Knox City Park crew is idle. Park Superintendent, George Byer, and his assistant, Clarence Marshall, have been working on playground equipment. Maybe your children would enjoy the refurbished spring loaded animal ride on the east side of the park. It’s been refurbished to make it ADA acceptable. One piece of equipment, the handle bars, had to be custom made.
Many people driving by the Sandy Acres Park on the south side of Knox have wondered what was going in the playground area.
“What we’ve got going here is a new swing set for Sandy Acres Park,” said Park Superintendent George Byer. “It was one that we purchased last Fall, we really didn’t have a chance to get it installed. This swing set will consist of two full swings on it and then we’ll have a toddler’s swing and a baby chair swing. At the very end, we will have a handicap swing. Everybody will get a chance to be able to play on this one. Along with that, we’ll have a six foot bench that will be between the little kids kingdom area and the swing set. This will make a very nice addition to Sandy Acres Park.”
The base will be filled in with playground mulch.
Although it has not become a huge problem so far, the Knox City Council members did discuss horseback riding in the city and parks at their most recent meeting.
Besides the problem of manure on the streets, there is a problem of riding in the parks. Horses can do a lot of damage if being ridden on a baseball field. In the discussion, Park Superintendent, George Byer, said there is evidence in the form of manure on the walking path, which makes it unpleasant for the walkers.
A generation of kids went down the curly slide in Wythogan Park. Now, the old curly slide has gone the way of many rides that have seen “better days.”
A new slide has been erected.
“We bought a brand new swirl slide that will replace the old one that he had installed on August 2nd, 1977,” said Park Superintendent, George Byer. “This one will be a blessing for us. We wanted new playground equipment so this is going to fall right in place.”
