Part of Wednesday’s weekly press conference at Warsaw City Hall was talking about how parks, playgrounds and sports courts will be reopening during the “Back on Track” Indiana plan.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said that the city will look to reopen playgrounds during Stage 3 of the Governor’s plan, which is on May 24th. This will also involve the opening of certain sports courts such as tennis and pickleball, but will not include basketball courts. Those, Thallemer said, would probably be during Stage 4, which starts on June 14th.
Thallemer was asked why basketball courts would not open but other areas, which also involve close contact with either kids or adults, would.
“Again, with the restrictions, nothing has been finalized. We will be taking a look at everything. We looked at the next stage for basketball courts because of the congregating and the close physical contact (that happens on a basketball court).”
He went on to say that doesn’t mean the Parks Department could open them up just for shooting around, “it would create a difficult issue on enforcement.”
No dates for opening areas of the parks have been finalized.
As far as other things go with the parks, campgrounds will open for seasonal rentals on May 24th, outdoor picnic shelter rentals will not start until June 15th, and even at that time, they would only allow 50 percent capacity.
Other rental areas, such as the Fireman’s Building, Center Lake Pavilion, Nye Youth Cabin, will remain closed until Stage 5 on July 4th.
The BMX track will open during Stage 4, while the Mantis Skate Park will remain closed until Stage 5. Both will also have restrictions in place.
Thallemer noted there is a chance that the Friday Night Concert series could resume on July 4th with social distancing measures in place. This does not include the Classic Rock Concert, Country Concert or the Blues and BBQ concert which have already been canceled for the year.
As with everything listed above, dates are tentative.
