Advertisement I asked about Houska Park in the office Monday, and my colleagues perked up. A cops and courts reporter mentioned the number of times vagrants in the park are included in police reports.
A female reporter recounted an interaction with a man who called himself Billy Goat Gruff and asked if she wanted to “cross his bridge.”
She didn’t.
They confirmed what I heard park commissioners say at a meeting a week or two ago, but what, I, as a relative newcomer to La Crosse, haven’t witnessed firsthand.
City Director of Parks and Recreation Steve Carlyon said it’s a problem of people treating public parks like their neighborhood bar.
The solution he proposes: regulate drinking.
“It’s not a bar environment for people to sit all day long and drink,” Carlyon said. “We don’t want families with children to continue to be exposed to that.”
I may be picking on Houska Park, but it doesn’t stand alone. Carlyon said happy hour also starts early and lasts all day at Copeland Park — think splash park not lumberyard.
“That’s not what parks are for,” Carlyon said.
But the fact of the matter remains that — at least for now — it’s entirely legal.
The city’s code of ordinances specifically allows drinking alcoholic beverages in Carroll, Copeland, Myrick, Houska, Red Cloud and Pettibone parks, Erickson Field and Grandad Bluff.
The Parks Board now is considering prohibiting drinking in all parks, except with a special permit.
Pardon the cliche, but it looks like it’s last call.
But the intent isn’t to entirely ban alcohol in parks, Carlyon said. Anyone can get a permit for a softball game, picnic, get-together, wedding or reunion.
Odds and ends
- For all the council votes, nuances and anecdotes out of 400 La Crosse St. you’ve been aching for, look to my new City Hall blog at lacrossetribune.com. It’s been up and running since Thursday.
- The Wisconsin Way, a coalition of public and professional organizations, is hosting its second La Crosse forum from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the Onalaska OmniCenter, 255 Riders Club Road. In May the group asked for public input for improving the state’s tax system.
Samantha Marcus can be reached at (608) 791-8220 or smarcus@lacrossetribune.com.
