When a St. Paul police officer saw a parent allowing her son to play in the downtown Mears Park streambed on a recent Friday morning, he hustled over to warn them away, then brought the boy a sticker to calm his complaints.
At Mears, the exchange was one of the brighter episodes to unfold in front of downtown resident Bill Hanley, who said the artificial stream in recent weeks has looked more like a moving health hazard than the popular downtown attraction it once was.
“The park leadership decision not to start the stream has left it a horrible mix of rainwater, trash and human urine … a serious health issue,” Hanley wrote in a recent email to the Friends of Mears Park and city officials.
In response, parks officials power-washed the barren stream on July 14, but volunteers who maintain the Lowertown park’s many small gardens say they want the water turned back on. With an eye toward both public health and a city budget buffeted by the pandemic, city officials made the decision this summer to cancel most but not all man-made public water features.
The goal, in part, is to keep residents from congregating in recreational spaces, a social distancing strategy aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
In other words, the statue in the Rice Park fountain stands in an empty well. City-funded decorative fountains and ornamental water features are off. So are drinking fountains.
WHAT’S OPEN, WHAT’S NOT
At city parks, restrooms are closed, though Parks and Rec officials said they have made portable toilets available at all restroom locations.
Como Regional Park Pool and Highland Park Aquatic Center will not open this summer. The Great River Water Park at the Oxford Community Center on Lexington Parkway remains closed.
“The ability to safely operate our outdoor pools requires a rigorous hiring and lifeguard training process that needs to start in early March to be successful,” reads a notice on the city’s aquatics website.
“Our service model does not easily allow us to start and stop services should the (state’s) ‘Stay Safe MN’ dials … fluctuate throughout the summer.”
Outdoor pools also remain closed. To help families beat the heat as temperatures climb into the 80s and beyond, however, the city has kept splash pads open at Phalen Beach from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The beach itself is open and guarded from noon to 8 p.m.
Garden hose spigots at community garden sites remain on, as does irrigation at most locations that require watering.
Merle Greene, an organizer with the Eleanor Graham Community Garden at an on-ramp to Ayd Mill Road, said water access has not been a problem.
“There haven’t been any water issues whatsoever,” Greene said, “but we don’t have water features like a pond or pool or anything.”
THE MEARS MALAISE
At Mears, the dirty streambed has added to a general malaise surrounding the park and other corners of downtown, where police have responded to an uptick in loitering, panhandling and drug dealing during the pandemic.
At the request of Hanley and other downtown residents, City Council Member Rebecca Noecker recently reached out to Karin Misiewicz, who runs parks maintenance, to discuss the situation.
“She’s let me know that she will ask her team to power-wash the stream bed more regularly as a first step,” Noecker wrote in a July 14 email to concerned constituents.
Lee Ann LaBore, co-chair of the Friends of Mears Park, which donated $20,000 in 2016 to repair the water feature, said the stream needs to be turned back on.
“Power-washing the stream is a bandage because every time it rains maintenance will be needed,” LaBore said. “This year the neighborhood has had very little to get excited about and a running stream would bring a lot of joy and serenity back to the community.”
Hanley said there have been recent bright spots. Through the St. Paul Downtown Alliance, organizers have launched “Lowertown Local,” a weekly concert series in Mears Park that drew upwards of 200 guests on Thursday evening.
Just off Mears, Barrio restaurant has reopened on Sixth Street, and the St. Paul Saints stadium at CHS Field is offering lunches, Friday night fireworks and $15 movie nights. Hanley said he and his wife came across Mayor Melvin Carter out on his own, picking up litter in Mears for an hour or more.
“The cops have been spectacular. The parks staff has been spectacular. The gripe is parks policy,” Hanley said. “This is a highly-used park right in the middle of a residential area. This notion that we’re going to treat all the parks the same is ridiculous.”