Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Restooms at Dogwood Park should open soon

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By KEVIN NEVERS

The restrooms at Dogwood Park should open sometime next week.

That, from Chesterton Park Superintendent Bruce Mathias, who told the Park Board at its meeting Tuesday night that the water will be turned on to the restroom on Monday.

Mathias noted that the Park Department has fielded a number of calls from residents wanting to know when the restrooms will be usable, but said that--despite last week’s warm spell--there is still a threat to the pipes from frost.

Member Wendy Marciniak did take a moment at the end of the meeting to say that she was gladdened last week to see so many families enjoying the new playground equipment at Dogwood Park. “It was just teeming with families and that made me feel really good.”

Meanwhile, the boxcar restroom at Thomas Centennial Park is now open for the season, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

Members did approve a $13,283 payment to Larson-Danielson Construction of LaPorte--general contractor on the restroom--to repair a pipe which froze during the Polar Vortex earlier this winter. Town Engineer Mark O’Dell told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting that, though the water had been shut off in the restroom, the pipes had not been bled.

Waskom/Kipper

In other business, O’Dell reported--in response to another query from residents--that both Waskom and Kipper parks remain closed behind snow fencing.

Work has not been completed on either yet and both rehab projects have been dormant this winter. At Waskom the basketball and tennis courts still need to be asphalted, while at Kipper brick work, landscaping, and mulching are on the punch list.

Evidently some folks have been climbing over the snow fencing, however, and there’s not much the Park Department can do about that, O’Dell said. Anyone particularly concerned should call the Police Department.

Coffee Creek Park

Meanwhile, Member Paul Shinn reported that grant applications have been submitted to Indiana American Water Company and NIPSCO for funding to remove invasive plant species--especially phragmites--at Coffee Creek Park.

Cutting or simply uprooting phragmites won’t do the trick. Instead, an herbicide must be hand-applied to each individual reed by someone specifically certified to do the job.

Whether the grants are awarded or not, though, a clean-up day for Coffee Creek Park will be scheduled sometime in June, Shinn said.

Shinn did add that Coffee Creek Park “looks pretty good now,” although “the beavers are back, looking for Bruce.”

Superintendent’s Report

Mathias, for his part, reported that 396 feet of drain tile have been laid at the soccer fields at Dogwood Park, with another 600 feet to go. When completed, the drainage project should go a long way to remediating a long-standing pooling problem down the center of the fields.

Two softball fields at Dogwood Park have also been put in order for the season, while the Park Department is working on installing water lines in Thomas Centennial Park to serve a drinking fountain and a new fountain yet to be built there.

 

Posted 4/4/2019

 
 
 
 

 

 

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