It's no Park Place

For most, the Bloomington experience is something that begins when they arrive at IU at the age of 18, but I’ve been here since I was 4. In that time, I have had the pleasure of seeing the downtown area transform into an industrious and somewhat peaceful part of town. The hustle and bustle give you a city feeling but with a small-town charm. It was not always that way.

New businesses, along with recent efforts by Mayor Mark Kruzan, have cleaned up the near-campus part of Kirkwood into what now exists. Most of the seedy establishments that once lined this street –  The Den, for example – have been replaced by posh boutiques and upper-scale eateries. Still, People’s Park, though given a face-lift, still serves as a troubling reminder of the area’s run-down past.
The condition of the park itself has improved tremendously. It is no longer a strip of dirt covered in patches of brown grass, and is enhanced by the beautiful mosaics that are embedded into its clean walkways. Eclectic paintings that hang on the park’s eastern wall also give it a youthful charm. But there is one very noticeable part of People’s Park that did not change – the people who spend their time within its boundaries.

I find it hard to accept that one of the prime locations of my beloved downtown Bloomington cannot be enjoyed by just anyone. I realize that the park serves its original purpose. For those of you who don’t know, People’s Park was a hippie sanctuary in Berkeley, Calif., during the radical political activism of the 1960s, and this is how our park was given its name. It is supposed to be a place where people can go and practice free expression, but I fail to see how this is able to happen when it is hard to feel safe. 

During last year’s spring semester I saw three fights there while passing by, two out of the three involving loud swearing and one involving a woman being struck and thrown head-first over a bench. There were families with children also passing by. One could argue that a fight can happen anywhere, but I can’t think of an area in town that is more heavily monitored by the Bloomington Police Department.

How can we give People’s Park the pleasant family atmosphere so that it can be enjoyed by any of Bloomington’s residents? I have noticed that the weekly concerts that are held there bring in a mixture of people into the park to enjoy the music. For that hour the park represents a microcosm of Bloomington. There is still free expression, but in a more welcoming, clean and controlled manner. I say, we need to take the park back. The city should sponsor more public events to be held in People’s Park, to keep the free expression alive, but also offer security that the city government is able to provide. In time I am sure that this park, just like the rest of Bloomington, can be something that everyone can appreciate.