I guess they could put it in the parking lot behind the ball field, skating on on of the frozen ponds would be nice, but the weather these days it may not get cold enough for thick ice on the pond. I did see folks skating on the large pound behind the new apartments across the street last winter.
A concrete pad was recently poured on the north side of the park. I've been trying to figure out what it's for. Could this be part of that?
Would they have already started on this ice rink? I was thinking maybe it's a basketball court or something. They're really cluttering up this park, in my opinion.
@Lymon89 I saw the same thing. I also had basketball court as my first guess and had the came complaint that they're putting too much in what is supposed to be a more formal urban park.
I get the park is underutilized and maybe some of this is necessary, but I hope that in the future when downtown is doing better the park can be brought back to more of what it was supposed to be.
Yeah, completely agree. I'm all for bringing activities to parks and utilizing them for more than just the homeless population (though I get they need a place too), but that was also my complaint. It's supposed to be a formal, downtown park. Play structures and basketball courts just seem out of place.
I guess an ice rink at least kind of fits better, and I'd think is more temporary, but I'm not sure where they have the space. It would be nice to see this park used more by the public. I honestly tend to skirt around of it because of the particular crowd there whenever I'm walking by.
Sorry! I was mistaking Rutter Park for Ranny Park! I would not mind seeing an ice rink there, but if it is going to be a tiny square of ice like at City Hall, it will not attract many people. It might be nice to have an iced path going around the fountain and through the trees. I did notice kids playing in the playground [nice but in the wrong spot] twice last summer! I think a better place for an ice rink would be Addo Park, there could be a huge ice rink there and room for a bon-fire and food trucks. I just hate to see the city kind of waste money on lame projects. As for the folks who hang out there, while they seem to be having a good time, if there was an equally nice place to hang out perhaps they would go there.
A bit more info on the Consumer's service center project at the center of the PA 425 Agreement with Windsor Township. The Lansing site will take 5 years to be remdiated; they are working with the city on resuses of the property, though because of the former use of the site, it will only be fit for park, commercial or institutional reuse (no residential). They will retain access to some gas facilities on the site; what those are, I have no idea. Apparently, it used to be a gas-fired power plant Consume'rs purchased before the site was redeveloped as their service center in the late 50's/early 60's.
I'm sure the intent with Reutter is to increase "civilian" use in order to push out the vagrancy. Aesthetically, I agree that it looks odd for a formal park to have that playground shoehorned in, but the city also needs play infrastructure there if they want families living downtown. Not sure how many kids live in the new apartments by Reutter but I'm sure it's a non-zero number.
You're not wrong, and I'm not against it despite previously complaining about it lol. I was thinking of many of the formal park squares in Boston's South End and it wasn't uncommon to see playgrounds and other activities scattered through out them. I guess I'm just adjusting to the new additions to the park. It would be nice to see it used by more use groups. There's no reason the park can't be shared among different groups of people.
The concrete pad is apparently for a small ice skating rink. It seems like a fun idea; I hope it's a success. It really seems like they're trying to give it their all with shacks that I assume will be skate rentals and such. I wish Lansing could accommodate a larger ice rink somewhere downtown and make it a big attraction. I think someone previously mentioned Addado...I think that could have potential.
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Would they have already started on this ice rink? I was thinking maybe it's a basketball court or something. They're really cluttering up this park, in my opinion.
I get the park is underutilized and maybe some of this is necessary, but I hope that in the future when downtown is doing better the park can be brought back to more of what it was supposed to be.
I guess an ice rink at least kind of fits better, and I'd think is more temporary, but I'm not sure where they have the space. It would be nice to see this park used more by the public. I honestly tend to skirt around of it because of the particular crowd there whenever I'm walking by.
The concrete pad is apparently for a small ice skating rink. It seems like a fun idea; I hope it's a success. It really seems like they're trying to give it their all with shacks that I assume will be skate rentals and such. I wish Lansing could accommodate a larger ice rink somewhere downtown and make it a big attraction. I think someone previously mentioned Addado...I think that could have potential.