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The Parks Committee is sorry to see Dot Berning, Terry Poag, Abigail Rosendale,
Gino Gott, and John Pease leave our group. Dot kept us up with news from the
Mesker Park Zoo and Terry brought us the expertise he acquired during his
sojourn as Parks Maintenance Manager. Abigail was USI’s appointment to the
committee and she brought an astute mind, environmental information, and
computer expertise to the group. Gino and John kept us informed on Moutoux Park
and the Westside Youth Soccer Club. These people will be greatly missed.
Westside Improvement Association thanks them for their service.
We welcome the following new members to the Parks Committee: Dave Green and
Ellen Lasher have assumed leadership of the Westside Youth Soccer, as Gino Gott
and John Pease have gone on to other things. Dave Green is now president and
Ellen Lasher is Vice-President. The Parks Committee wishes them well in their
new positions. In a recent communication they informed us of the progress being
made at Moutoux Park.
- Moutoux Park:
- Dave and Ellen tell us the Westside Youth Soccer Club provides 600
children a place to play soccer each year. The park has had drainage
problems for years. Last fall, 76 loads of dirt were brought in on the west
side of the fields. An estimator for Floyd Staub, Inc. has indicated
what needs to be done to correct the drainage problems and crown the fields.
When this is done the Club will seed and water.
- Moutoux Park is also in the process of installing electricity. This will
light one field, provide electricity in the main shelter and restrooms, and
provide dusk to dawn lights that will, hopefully, prevent vandalism. This
project is being helped by some local business donations and volunteers who
will take the project to completion once the high voltage is installed and
all materials are in place.
- Monetary assistance is needed (approximately $6, 550) so if any of our
readers want to help, please call me at 422-0564.
- Also assisting in Moutoux Park improvements are the Evansville Parks
Foundation and the Evansville Dept. of Parks and Recreation.
- The Evansville Parks Foundation provided the funds for construction the
Moutoux Shelter, the playground equipment, landscaping, benches, and
wildflower plantings in the landfill. These improvements amounted to about
$95,000.
- The Evansville Department of Parks and Recreation has (in recent years)
constructed a concession stand, installed electrical power and a Musco light
system, added dirt, built a fence barrier to prevent vandalism on the
fields, donated a tractor, and purchased dusk to dawn light fixtures.
- For all the westsiders who knew and loved Bill Moutoux , these
improvements are very welcome. Soon we will have a park that Bill would have
been proud to carry his name.
- Howell Outdoor Wetland Education Center:
- The Parks Committee is sorry to announce there are some people who HAVE
NO SHAME. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY NEED THE CYPRESS TREES AND OTHER
PLANTINGS THAT HAVE TAKEN YEARS TO ESTABLISH AT THE WETLANDS FOR THEIR OWN
USE.
These people have removed good-sized trees so it has to be adults who want
them for their yards. What kind of example are these people setting for
their children? If we catch them, we will ask for them to be punished to the
full extent of the law.
- Burdette Park:
- Good news for Burdette, USI, and the Greenway Passage! For years, the
university has wanted to connect to Burdette Park via some type of road
system. This would be an advantage to both the university and the park and
would be a better utilization of county facilities. Now it is the Greenway
Passage’s turn to profit by a plan being put forward to build a bikeway
connecting the two facilities.
- The university is developing a new master plan that will add an entrance
road to the back of the facility (on Broadway). This may include a bikeway.
Also being planned is an opportunity to extend a bikeway to Burdette Park.
- This helps the Greenway Passage because the Greenway Passage Advisory
Board has committed to extending a bikeway to the university as a part of
their long-range plan. By considering building bike/pedestrian paths into
new construction saves money, offers new trails earlier than the Greenway
Passage can provide them, and is visionary thinking.
- Also, the Greenway Passage Land Use Committee is being aided by Jeff
Elpers, a USI senior engineering student. Jeff is developing a plan to
provide a pedestrian/bikeway from the University along Highway 62 to Boehne
Camp Rd. This will allow students to bike to the shopping centers.
- Words of Wisdom
“The time when you need to do something is when no one else is willing to do
it, when people are saying it can’t be done”. (Mary Frances Berry, Activist)
Shirley James, Chair
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