While most Columbus parks remain open for people to run and walk, the basketball and tennis courts and the soccer, baseball and softball fields at those parks are closed.
Since Gov. Eric Holcomb issued a stay-at-home directive last week for non-essential travel and business, the parks department closed its athletic facilities through April 30.
“If anyone is out there, they’re out there on their own volition,” said Nikki Murphy, director of sports programs. “We’re neither endorsing it nor supporting it. If anybody is out there, it’s a non-program activity, and it’s a group of individuals out there on their own.”
Murphy noted that the tennis courts at Donner and Lincoln Parks, the pickleball courts at Donner Park and Richards Elementary and baseball fields at Clifty and Lincoln Parks have been chained off. But since there are no fences around most of the softball and soccer facilities, that’s hard to enforce.
“We don’t have constant patrols,” Murhpy said. “We have staff, and they’re supposed to help keep people mindful. I do think it’s a matter of people self-policing, is what it comes down to. Unfortunately, if people are disobeying the CDC orders, there’s going to be greater risk (at contracting the coronavirus). There’s actually no way for us to physically close our parks. We’re just relying on people to make their own decisions and do the right thing.”
Columbus Police Department spokesman Lt. Matt Harris said police are trying to remind folks of the governor’s order for social distancing. He said officers do have the option of citing or arresting individuals for violating the governor’s order, but if they do come upon large groups, depending on the situation, they may just go up to them and remind them of the governor’s order and ask them to disperse.
On Sunday, about 15 to 20 people were seen playing soccer at Blackwell Park behind Parkside Elementary. Murphy and parks director Mark Jones said if the gatherings persist, the department may have to take measures such as removing soccer goals and taking down basketball rims.
“If it becomes an issue, that’s probably something we’re going to have to do,” Murphy said. “We’re also trying to become fiscally smart because we’re down to a skeleton crew, and we’re spending a lot of our time trying to keep things clean.”
Murphy noted that the people trails still are open, but cautioned that people need to use social distancing on the trails.
“We’re trying to follow the CDC and the governor’s information that keeps coming down to us,” Jones said. “We’re looking at this daily to see if we need to do anything different. We’re just kind of playing it hour-by-hour. We’re also looking nationally at other parks systems to see what they’re doing. We’re trying to see what the trend is there with others.”
