kalencap
Columbus, OH
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Much of the grass in Goodale Park is the color of trampled-brown after last weekend's activities. It likely won't be fully recovered until September, much like the years before. (Sigh!)
While I personally believe COMfest has its value for the region, Goodale is an urban neighborhood park. It is a very limited ecosystem for its urban wildlife residents and I hope those who appreciate it during COMfest will remember that during the remainder of the year.
dmorris614
clintonvillain
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You forgot to mention Pride, which happened in the park the weekend before ComFest as well. Both events had an impact on the grass/etc. of the park, and the work that occurs after ComFest in the area of repair of things like grass, plants, etc., was beginning as early as Monday.
jimmaneri
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I live a few blocks from the park (have for decades) and run through it every day. The large patches of brown are from Pride when large, corporate sponsored plastic constructs were on the lawn for a couple days. Same thing last year. As far as I can tell Pride does nothing to repair this, but Comfest does it for them. The only reason that there are any flowers in the park and people tending them is because of the rather substantial annual contributions by Comfest to the Friends of Goodale Park.
priorityred
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Sounds to me like it's just about time to make Goodale Park closed to such sorts of festival tripe and let it go back to being a green space instead of someone's party barn.
DR
Short North
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The grass will be back much sooner than September! Last year Comfest had people out there using aerators then seeding and then fertilizing.
Pride did hardly any damage to the grass... I watched both being set up and torn down. Next year I'll take before and after pictures for you guys.
CheeseFoodie
Harrison West
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Party barn... seriously? Thousands of hours per year are donated to make sure Goodale stays a beautiful as it can be after every event, including Pride and Comfest. Not to mention, it's grass, has a tendency to be pretty resilient:)
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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The husband and I just walked through Goodale and honestly, for the number of people that have come through the park the past two weekends, I thought it looked pretty good. People were still lying in the grass, dogs were playing, and kids were using the playground as I walked through.
I know a few people working the Comfest tear down, and know there were there well into the night on Sunday picking up after the festival and putting the park to rights, its a public space that was utilized to its fullest potential, not some private conservatory.
kelseyg
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I agree with mrsgeedeck -- it's a public space, not a museum. Everyone has as much a claim to it as the people who live in the area.
As long as the comfest folk are working as hard as they do to keep it free of trash and destruction, a little bit of brown grass (in the middle of the summer) doesn't seem so bad.
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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Both ComFest and Stonewall/Pride give back to the park. ComFest is a longtime generous supporter of the park, and has dedicated volunteers who work in the park all year round. They assemble teams immediately after ComFest to clean up as well as to repair the grass.
kalencap wrote >>
Goodale is an urban neighborhood park. It is a very limited ecosystem for its urban wildlife residents.
Umm...the park is not an island of wildlife in a barren wilderness of the surrounding neighborhood. The surrounding neighborhood supports vast amounts of wildlife. In fact, my yard, in the neighborhood, is a certified wildlife habitat. I'm not saying that the park doesn't also support some great wildlife. However, it is not a wildlife sanctuary, and is not intended to be. It is a greenspace primarily for the people in the city of Columbus.
Wanna to make the park better, or give back after ComFest? Put your money where your mouth is, so to speak. Here's 2 options:
1. You can donate to our current fundraising initiative online. Give $10, $25, or make a large donation and get your name on a plaque. Find out more here: http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/donate.asp
2. Come to the park and lend a hand on our work days. Find out more by contacting our volunteer coordinator (Julie Hallan) at: juliehallan@friendsofgoodalepark.org or by signing up for our email list here: http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/emailsignup.asp
CheeseFoodie
Harrison West
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Thanks Chris, I was hoping you'd see this thread!
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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cyclist II
Short North & Peach District
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Don't forget Friday's Red, White, and Boom crowd sitting and tromping on the grass. More festivals please!!!
dmorris614
clintonvillain
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@cyclistII - Aaaaand trashing the park. FGP certainly has their work cut out for them.
@kalencap and priorityred - Can you come up to Whetstone this weekend and protect the fragile urban ecosystem that is Whetstone Park from the throngs of revelers that will descend upon it for the annual fireworks display? An additional point that merits your attention: Many of these people will have fire. FIRE! Bunnies, squirrels insects and the grass may be treated like Georgians on Sherman's March by people drunk on national pride and Lee Greenwood! We cannot have this in our neighborhood! (Cue dramatic humming music...)
That said, I can't wait to see the fireworks this year - it's always nice to see shit being blown up. Now if only I didn't have all these trees and houses obstructing the view from my backyard...
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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kalencap
Columbus, OH
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Friends of Goodale Park is a great organization. I like much of what you said here.
Regarding the urban wildlife though, even accepting the premise that it is "primarily for the people" [that is so not COMfest in terms of planetary care focus], part of the nature of such a greenspace is its limited wildlife. Three consecutive weekends of overuse (this weekend being the third) does some short-term damage. The damage is recoverable, there's just a bit of a sigh that once Goodale Park reaches what I consider its peak each year, it gets trampled. If the same amount of people and vendors used it every weekend, it would become a dustbowl. And for the animals there, the weekends of overuse are disruptive.
Anyway, I'll be glad after this weekend when the usage rate gets back to something much more sustainable. Personally, I think one of the reasons events go back to it year after year is it is such a great park in the first place.
chrisgillespie wrote >>
Both ComFest and Stonewall/Pride give back to the park. ComFest is a longtime generous supporter of the park, and has dedicated volunteers who work in the park all year round. They assemble teams immediately after ComFest to clean up as well as to repair the grass.kalencap wrote >>
Goodale is an urban neighborhood park. It is a very limited ecosystem for its urban wildlife residents.Umm...the park is not an island of wildlife in a barren wilderness of the surrounding neighborhood. The surrounding neighborhood supports vast amounts of wildlife. In fact, my yard, in the neighborhood, is a certified wildlife habitat. I'm not saying that the park doesn't also support some great wildlife. However, it is not a wildlife sanctuary, and is not intended to be. It is a greenspace primarily for the people in the city of Columbus.
Wanna to make the park better, or give back after ComFest? Put your money where your mouth is, so to speak. Here's 2 options:
1. You can donate to our current fundraising initiative online. Give $10, $25, or make a large donation and get your name on a plaque. Find out more here: http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/donate.asp
2. Come to the park and lend a hand on our work days. Find out more by contacting our volunteer coordinator (Julie Hallan) at: juliehallan@friendsofgoodalepark.org or by signing up for our email list here: http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/emailsignup.asp
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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Well, since the damage is recoverable, and the park comes back from it every year, I'd say it's sustainable ;)
Some places are intended for people to have fun in. There are animals that have thrived in the park for years with Comfest taking place there. They are adaptable to human activity (or they wouldn't be there in the first place). Where do you draw the line? Should we no longer have the Goodale Park Music Series or weddings at the gazebo?
When things are used, they get dirty and damaged...and that's OK -- just clean up after. Volunteer with ComFest and/or the Friends of Goodale Park.
Comfesters have been in the park every day since ComFest. You may not know this, but they also help out the park during Red, White, and Boom. Many people come to the park to view fireworks. ComFest volunteers will be setting up trash cans in the park early this evening; they hired special duty police for tonight (we have problems with people parking on the grass in Goodale during this event); and they will be around after the fireworks collecting trash and bringing their collapsable trash cans back into the shelter house basement. This is just an example of some of the additional support that the park receives from ComFest that I would not want to lose.
The Friends of Goodale Park has their next volunteer work day on 7/10. Damaged grass is not the only thing that happens on an ongoing basis in the park. We need to stay on top of weeding, tree pruning, trash cleanup, graffiti removal, and more.
See ya in the park!
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