Founders started setting aside land for green spaces as early as 1863

Parks have been part of Topeka since just a few years after the formation of the city.

City Park was Topeka's first park. Purchased in 1863, it was at approximately the same location as the cabin where the nine founders wrote the city charter. Over the next 40 years Topeka saw the addition several more parks, including Chesney Park, Huntoon Park, Central Park, Gage Park and Holliday Park.

In 1900, a Board of Park Commissioners was created, with five members appointed by the mayor serving with no compensation. The was the board that hired E.F.A. Reinisch as parks superintendent, and his influence drove Topeka park design. Reinisch, a landscape architect, is the namesake of the park's rose garden.

By 1909, Topeka had one of the finest park systems of any among Midwest cities of equal size, according to a newspaper article from that year. Between 1902 and 1907, Topeka's expenditures for parks rose from $3,500 in 1902 to $11,700 in 1907. Consider that Topeka's first park commissioner's annual salary was only $1.

Gage Park, Topeka's most well-known park, often overshadows many of the others, some of which have been around even longer than Gage's 105 years.

Holliday Park, a small, triangular-shaped park at S.W. 12th and Western, and has served its neighborhood since its purchase in 1882. Topeka Parks and Recreation recently put up a new iron fence around Holliday Park to replace the fence that was donated to a scrap metal drive during World War II.

Central Park, S.W. 13th and Clay, was purchased in 1901. With three ponds, it was known for the swans that made it home. After the 1966 tornado, two of the ponds were filled in with storm debris, but one pond remains.

Topeka added Garfield Park to the growing list in 1907. Garfield Park maintains some of its historic elements --- the same concrete pool that was used in, is still being used today.

By the 1950s, parks had permanently established themselves as one of Topeka's primary characteristics. In 1954, the number of people using Topeka park facilities (shelterhouses, cabins and steak grills) nearly equaled the city's citizens --- 95,011 people used park grills that year. Garfield Park's shelterhouse was used by 35,602 people, and Gage Park's shelterhouse was used by 28,371 people.

Budget in millions

The Topeka Parks and Recreation budget is almost $10 million.

"Day-to-day maintenance is the struggle," said Doug Reynolds, associate director of administration. Reynolds said roughly two- thirds of the budget goes to paying the salaries of the department's 674 permanent, seasonal and temporary employees.

The summer swell in employees takes much of the budget. Lifeguards, mowing crews, concession workers and camp counselors are all needed in large numbers during the summer months. Blaisdell Family Aquatic Center at Gage Park, for instance, has 17 lifeguards on duty at all times. And Topeka has four other park pools: Crestview Pool, Garfield Pool, Hillcrest Family Aquatic Center and Oakland Pool. Toward the end of summer when lifeguards start returning to school, the parks department has to juggle pool schedules so that the remaining staff can cover all the hours of swimming.

Besides paying for employees, Parks and Recreation also has to pay for the upkeep of more than 100 city-owned parks. This means driving to and mowing all of them on a regular basis. With gasoline prices rising, that is an expensive task.

With so much to keep up, expansion projects are difficult.

"Twenty years ago, the drive was to go out and build more. Now, it takes about all our resources just to keep up," said Bill Riphahn, director of planning and development for Topeka Parks and Recreation.

In addition to maintaining parks, the department operates a host of programs from one-day classes to summer day camps. It offers recreational activities for people of all ages and abilities.

The goal of new projects is not to add small neighborhood parks, Riphahn said, but to build larger, more versatile parks and to fully use existing parks. His plans for Gage Park look forward another 20 years and will include a botanical garden near the existing Victorian, Rock and Rose gardens.

Many structural changes will take place at Gage Park as well, such as eliminating a few streets to maximize use of space and reshaping parking lots to fit better the landscape design, Riphahn said. New sidewalks will also be installed.

Riphahn's vision include putting all the sports fields together at the south end of the park. Moving softball fields will allow for zoo expansion.

BY THE NUMBERS

Topeka Parks and Recreation today has:

104 permanent employees

570 temporary/seasonal employees

$8,730,924 in the Park Fund (excluding zoo fund)

$960,045 in the Golf Course Fund

MAJOR FACILITIES

Topeka Parks and Recreation is responsible for green spaces totaling 1,600 acres and the following:

- Topeka Zoological Park totaling 30 acres and 250 animals

- 6 3/4-mile-long Shunga Trail and 4 1/2-mile-long Landon Trail

- 6,500 roses in Reinisch Memorial Rose Garden in Gage Park

- Eight shelter houses in four parks

- 70 play structures in 67 parks

- 6.5 acre historical Ward-Meade Park and Botanical Garden

- 18-hole par 71 public golf course

- Community theater in Gage Park

- Carousel in Gage Park

- Mini-Train (1 mile of track) in Gage Park

- Seven community centers totaling 145,000 square feet

- Five public swimming pools totaling 49,000 square feet

- 14 softball diamonds and 14 baseball diamonds

- 41 public tennis courts in 14 parks

- 10,000 square foot skate park in Oakland-Billard Park

- Five youth and three adult soccer fields in Felker Park

- BMX track in Crestview Park

- Three cemeteries totaling 11 acres

- Two disc golf courses

A free catalog that lists all the park facilities and activities is available at city hall, 215 S.E. 7th. Information can be found on the Internet at www.topeka.org.

Douglas Baker lives in Lawrence. He is a 2004 graduate of Cair Paravel-Latin School in Topeka.

Copyright 2004
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