INDIANAPOLIS — All summer long, the kids in Stephanie Tinsley’s northeast side neighborhood have been playing basketball in the alley.
“Now they have nowhere to go,” said Tinsley. “It’s bad. It’s very bad.”
Their neighborhood city park is closed.
Neighbors in the Martindale-Brightwood community say the city tore up John Ed Park and it’s been fenced off for nearly a year.
“It’s a construction site, and a construction site for me represents danger for my kids,” said Latonya Pippens, who has lived in the neighborhood for 60 years. “It’s not good. When springtime rolled around, I thought we’d see this new park going up.”
Tinsley helps organize a neighborhood cookout every summer at John Ed Park.
“Now we have nowhere to have it,” said Tinsley.
Tinsley contacted WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney.
“Because we need help,” said Tinsley. “The kids have had nowhere to play all summer but in the street.”
Forgotten Parks? Weeds, trash, and broken equipment plague some parks
When Tinsley reached out, parks were already on our radar.
While out shooting a story in summer 2023, WRTV Investigates noticed Chapel Hill Park on Indy’s west side was in rough shape.
So WRTV Investigates went back again in summer 2024 and found it was in worse condition.
“There’s weeds growing up through the playground equipment here,” said WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney.
Trash and weeds infested the playground and tennis courts when we stopped by.
“This weed is 74 inches,” WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney said. “It’s taller than me.”
Keep in mind, the City of Indianapolis can give you a citation as a homeowner if your weeds are 12 inches or higher.
In fact, the City of Indianapolis issued more than 5,000 high weeds and grass violations last year.
High Weeds/Grass Violations
- 2023 – 5,094
- 2024 – 4,125 as of 8/13/2024
WRTV Investigates wanted to see if other Indy Parks are in similar condition.
So, we visited about 10% of the city’s 216 parks across the city including north, south, east, west and central.
While some parks were in great condition, others look forgotten.
- 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- 30% had broken or very faded/outdated playground equipment
Of the parks that did have bathrooms on site, several were broken including at Al E. Polin Park where the door handle was broken off making it impossible to use it.
Here’s some other examples of what we found:
- At WISH Park, the steps were falling apart and sharp in some areas
- At Franklin Township Community Park, the weeds were 18 inches high in some spots
- At Grassy Creek Park, the tennis courts were overgrown with weeds, some 80 inches tall
- At Eagle Highlands Park, we found trash at the playground including liquor bottles and cigarillo wrappers
- At Sexson Park, there were no weeds or trash and the park was in great condition
“It needs to look better”: Indy Parks Director responds to findings
Whether we use them or not, we all pay for parks through our tax dollars.
Indy Parks has a $46 million budget this year, which is 4 percent of the city’s entire budget. The projected 2025 budget for Indy Parks is $53 million.
WRTV Investigates shared our findings with Indy Parks director, Phyllis Boyd, who has been in her role since 2021.
- WRTV Investigates: Some of these parks look like they’re forgotten. Are they forgotten?
- Boyd: Absolutely not.
WRTVIndy Parks Director Phyllis Boyd speaks with WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney.
WRTV shared pictures from some of our stops including Chapel Hill and Grassy Creek parks.
- Boyd: Yeah, that needs work.
- WRTV Investigates: Is that acceptable to you?
- Boyd: No, it needs to look better. And I would ask people to please let us know that is the condition that they’re finding this in.
- WRTV Investigates: Is it disappointing when you see that?
- Boyd: I understand we have a lot of work to do. What helps me is understanding where that work needs to happen.
The city has a team of seasonal inspectors that check parks in the summer.
- WRTV Investigates: The parks that are on our list, would that be something that someone on that team would notice?
- Boyd: They would notify someone on the team and they'd put a work order in.
While Indy Parks can address things like benches, playground equipment and bathrooms, it’s actually another city agency responsible for trash, mowing and weed removal-- the Department of Public Works (DPW).
DPW declined an on-camera interview.
DPW spokesperson Kyle Bloyd said via email that of the parks WRTV visited, eight are maintained by DPW and the rest are maintained by contractors.
“Indy DPW's inspectors oversee the contractors,” said Bloyd. “Locations maintained by Indy DPW teams are typically mowed on a 7-10 day rotation, barring weather or special assignments. Some locations maintained by our team can be completed in a couple of hours, some may take two work days.”
WRTV Investigates asked Bloyd if DPW and its contractors will be addressing the problems we found.
“I’ll escalate this to the team,” responded to Bloyd via email.
Indy Parks Director Phyllis Boyd said Indy Parks and DPW should be maintaining parks even if they’re on the list for future improvements.
- Boyd: It’s our goal. We will continue working with DPW to make sure we are on top of it.
- WRTV Investigates: Would you say that system is working?
- Boyd: I would say it's challenged. I would say we all want it to work. There are capacity issues at DPW currently. We are trying to get there.
The city plans to dedicate more money to park maintenance in 2025.
Plus, they’re investing a historic $142 million in parks over several years, thanks to funding from:
PREVIOUS | City using $80M Lilly Endowment Grant for parks
- WRTV Investigates: Is Indy parks going to look at other funding sources to keep this going?
- Boyd: We are. We will keep looking.
Some of the parks WRTV Investigates visited like Chapel Hill, Grassy Creek, and Franklin Township Community parks are on the list for big improvements.
The city plans to replace mulch playground across the city with rubberized surfaces like the one at Frederick Douglass Park.
Boyd said while the rubberized play areas cost more up front, they will save the city valuable time and money in the long run.
“We are being very strategic in that move and having that be a part of every new place we do,” said Boyd. “You put it down, you might have to blow it off, but for the most part it takes care of itself.”
Boyd said it won’t happen overnight.
“We are really coming off of decades of disinvestment in parks and public spaces,” said Boyd. “So we are playing catch up.”
Some playgrounds haven’t been updated in 25 years, Boyd said.
John Ed Park improvements on the way
Meanwhile, people who live near John Ed Park on Indy’s northeast side feel forgotten.
"I feel like we are getting overlooked,” said Stephanie Tinsley. “Like, don't nobody care."
John Ed Park is one of the parks getting a new playground with funding from the American Rescue Plan.
It is scheduled for construction this fall and it will be completed before the end of the year, said Boyd.
“I'd say please be patient because we are working on it and doing what we can,” said Boyd.
What you can do about your park
If you see a problem with your park, here’s what you can do.
- Call the Mayor’s Action Center at 317-327-4622
- Call the parks hotline at 317-327-PARK
- Contact your city county councilor
A new initiative will allow your councilor to receive a million dollars for either a DPW or Indy Parks project, said Boyd. The deadline is November 1.
You can search to see if your neighborhood park is on the list of improvements here:
