Washington Park

Once upon a time, Washington had no parks to speak of.  That is a little hard to imagine when you consider the present day, where at least 15 properties are served by the Washington Park District.  But as late as 1967, there was no park district, and there were no areas for children to go.  The only thing close was a swing set and backstop behind Glendale Cemetery.  In just over fifty years, Washington has made unbelievable strides to provide the community space to play.  This is the story of how Washington’s first park, Washington Park, came to be.

In June 1967, the Washington Rotary Club acquired an option on a 55-acre tract of land formerly part of the Heyl Pony Farm, the area surrounding Lincoln Street, which we now know as Washington Park.  It had been used as a grazing area for horses up until 1965, when the Pony Farm ceased operation.  The Rotary Club wanted the area to be converted into a park, so they petitioned the city to put the formation of a park district on the November 1967 ballot for the voters to decide.  Bonnie Richart, the Rotarians, and some others worked hard to educate the public on the need for such an organization, bringing in speakers from other cities, going door to door to address citizens, making phone calls, and handing out surveys.  When the ballots were tallied, the voters of Washington had voted 762-290 for the formation of said park district.  On the same ballot, in anticipation of the passing of the measure, prospective board member candidates were listed.  The five winning members and the very first board members of the Washington Park District were: Noah Hickman, Dr. Hubert Engel, Judge John Holtzman, Wilson Kimmell, and Bonnie Richart.

With the board chosen, there was no question that land acquisition was their first order of business.  At their first meeting discussing land in early 1968, the Heyl property was discussed, but two other options for their first large purchase came to light as well.  Don Smelz, owner of the Neptune Swim Club, approached the board at that meeting, offering to sell his pool to the park district.  Also, Washington resident Leon Seagraves was offering 85 acres of land west of Glendale Cemetery for sale for a potential park.

With no money and already in debt from financing the election, this brand new park district certainly could not afford all three, nor could they afford two.  After researching all three options, the board settled on focusing on the Heyl property.  The sale of the pool to the park district would come a few years down the road, and the Seagraves property would later be sold to another buyer.  Justification for the purchase of the Heyl land was its multi-purpose uses, as well as its central location in the city.  It was claimed that everyone within the city limits at the time lived within 1.5 miles of the property.  The city purchased the 55 acres of land for around $96,000.

Once the commitment was made, the board was very meticulous, spending several months getting suggestions from engineers and regular citizens on the form the park should take.  Not unlike city government today, every decision was met with supporters and detractors.  One controversy was where (or even if) to put the entrance to the park on Stratford Drive.  The original plans called for a road from the south up through the park as an extension of the eastern terminus of Kingsbury Rd.  That was the preference of Stratford Drive residents who were concerned about traffic on their quiet street, but it was determined to be too expensive and damaging to the park’s integrity.  To the residents’ dismay, the park district settled on an entrance right in the middle of Stratford.

An early priority for the park board was to work with the city to get Lincoln Street extended to connect to Wilshire Drive. At the time of purchase, Lincoln Street stopped at the school.  The extension of the street was not in the original plans of the park but, through discussions, was determined to be of great benefit.  In the first few months of 1970, construction of the new road began and was completed by the end of the year.

There were other discussed road extensions that never came to fruition.  One was an extension of the park road system to the east (behind the diamonds) to connect with Main Street.  Another was a connection of Jackson Street to Kingsbury Road on the southwestern edge of the park.

As planning continued, excitement and anticipation were high as to the potential of this new area, and many organizations donated time or money to help with the process.  The Washington Recreation Association announced a donation of $5,000 towards the construction of ball diamonds at the facility.  The WRA needed as much space as possible and were pining for more diamonds than existed on some of the original plans.  An organization called the Forest Park Foundation also contributed $5,000 to the new park.  In addition, a division of the U.S. Marines graded the entire area free of charge.

The first structure believed to be built in the park was a shelter donated by the Hopewell Grange organization.

WEST SIDE OF LINCOLN STREET

On the west side of Lincoln Street, signs and shelters existed in the first few years, but not much else.  One of the reasons for this was that the park district had no money.  It was a very young organization that was in debt from land purchases (Heyl property, Meadow Valley Park in 1971, Neptune Swim Club in 1972).  The numerous contributions to the park made by local organizations were crucial at the time because of the park district’s financial standing.

In 1973, three Washington organizations, The Washington Rotary, the Junior Women, and the Washington Recycling Center, donated money to add a few pieces of playground equipment just south of Grange Shelter.  In addition, the Washington Women’s Club donated time to landscaping around the park signs once they were up.

The Washington Jaycees had bigger plans.  They wanted to finance a $10,000 playground in the center of the flat area, a centerpiece of the park.  The club’s initial vision was an eight-piece playground surrounded by a chain link fence.

The Jaycees playground was constructed and opened for play in the spring of 1974.  Early on, the huge popularity of the playground, especially the tornado slide, led the park district to hire a playground supervisor for a few months until things calmed down. Also, due to the significant uptick in activity in this area of the park, the Washington Rotary constructed a shelter near the playground built by Wesley Wenger.

Wesley Wenger built another shelter in 1976 near the Stratford Drive entrance at cost for the park district.  Because of his enormous contributions to the park, that shelter was named after Wenger.  Due to donations from Washington plumber Dick Rich, the Wenger shelter has restrooms.  It also includes a fireplace and storage area.

Sidewalks were later added around Wenger Shelter, as well as shuffleboard lanes and horseshoe pits.  A planned putting green and croquet court never materialized.

In 2019 a $10,000 renovation of Wenger Shelter took place through a Rotary Grant and contributions from the Washington Rotary and the Washington Park District.  Local businesses Lindsey Plumbing, RNS Electric, and KAP Construction also worked on this renovation.

In 1979, a Perrier Parcourse was added throughout the park, consisting of 18 exercise stations.  The Parcourse remained in the park for approximately fifteen years and was replaced in the 1990s by a disc golf course, which remains in the park today.

Also, in the 1990s, a paved path was created through the park as part of the citywide recreational trail project.

The Jaycees playground survived for over thirty years, allowing multiple generations of families to enjoy the facility.  By the mid-2000s, however, the equipment had become quite run down and was replaced with a newer, more modern play area.

EAST SIDE OF LINCOLN STREET

On the east side of Lincoln Street, the original plans called for a community center.  Before Five Points existed, Washington was in dire need of a community center, and the newly acquired property on Lincoln Street was one of the sites in the running to house such a facility.  The lack of proper space and the need for more ball diamonds squelched those plans.  

Actual construction in the area included three and, later, four ball diamonds.  Lights adorned all four diamonds over time.  In 1973, the baseball diamond was named after George Curtis.  Curtis was the park district superintendent during this time and donated his salary back to the cause to make the park district’s vision a reality.

In 1985 Curtis Field received a major upgrade.  A press box was added, donated by Miller Welding, and a scoreboard was installed through a grant from Coca-Cola.  Washingtonian Charlie Slonneger donated many hours of his time helping with the installation of the scoreboard.

In 1988, tennis courts were added to the park near the Lincoln Street entrance.  The city had two courts behind the city building (now the police station) that were in poor shape, and instead of replacing those, the city felt that the Washington Park location would serve the community better.

In 1989, the field used by the high school as their varsity softball diamond was named Jan Smith Field after the longtime coach passed away due to cancer.

In 2002, Washingtonian Eric Ingram began an Eagle Scout project to construct a Veterans’ memorial on park grounds.  Not wanting it to be an ordinary memorial, he and his grandparents, Bill & Joann Brunk, arranged for an AH1 Super Cobra Attack helicopter to be brought in on permanent loan from the U.S. Army.  Local residents Bob Linsley and Gary Bachman drove the truck carrying the helicopter from New York to save money.  The helicopter was delivered in September 2004 and stands to this day as a striking memorial to our armed forces.

In 2019 a fitness station was opened near the tennis courts, donated by local business owner Scott Brown.

In retrospect, it is really difficult to overstate how important the Washington Park area has been to the community.  Its mere existence launched the creation of the Washington Park District.  Movies, concerts, parties, reunions, art shows, frisbee golf tournaments, basketball tournaments, cross country meets, softball, baseball, tennis, and countless other park district activities have found a home there.  It continues to evolve with the times to meet the needs of an ever-changing Washington.