INDIANAPOLIS — Garfield Park is showing signs of wear and tear.
Under a proposal from the mayor and City-County council, Garfield Park could get new lockers, doors, landscaping, picnic tables and trash cans.
The $27 million Proposal No. 164, 2025 includes $2 million for Indy Parks maintenance.
The plan comes after WRTV Investigates raised questions about how parks are maintained and took concerns to the mayor, City-County councilors and the Indy Parks director.
We visited 10% of the city’s parks last summer and found:
- 50% had issues with high weeds, especially in the mulch areas of playgrounds
- 25% had problems with trash
- 30% had broken or very faded/outdated playground equipment
WRTV Investigates spoke with Indy Parks spokesperson Alex Cortwright on May 8 at Garfield Park.
- WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney: Weeds, trash, broken equipment. Will $2 million address those issues?
- Cortwright: Yes, absolutely. Part of what we are doing is buying amenities in bulk, including trash cans. So we are planning to invest more in the parks, making sure folks have more place to put trash. We are hoping that will help.
- WRTV Investigates: $2 million. How big of a deal is that to Indy Parks?
- Cortwright: That’s a big investment. Our annual capital budget is $5.8 million, so $2 million is about 30% of that, so it’s a significant investment in the parks.
- WRTV Investigates: Why is this so important?
- Cortwright: It really allows us to hit a lot of projects that would have not necessarily have happened this soon. They would have been spread out over several years. A big improvement on our sports courts, so basketball, pickleball, futsal are really popular, and we will be able to provide improved amenities for that. It will also last longer.
Here is a breakdown of the $2 million in the fiscal package for parks:
- $900,000 towards outdoor basketball, tennis, pickleball and futsal court improvements
- $350,900 for new site amenities including picnic tables, benches and trash cans
- $249,100 for landscape maintenance (this is things like landscape beds, areas around park centers or other landscaped spaces that Indy Parks oversees)
- $200,000 to replace lighting at Ellenberger Park’s tennis and pickleball courts
- $150,000 for HVAC replacements at the Garfield Park Conservatory
- $100,000 for new locker room fixtures at Garfield and Riverside
- $50,000 for new interior doors at Garfield, Indy Island, Perry, and Riverside
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Are your parks in good shape or not? Send us pictures this summer to INVESTIGATES@WRTV.COM
