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These days, a walk in the park is anything but for visitors to Marconi Plaza between dodging shards of broken glass, wading through cigarette butts and stepping over drug paraphernalia.
People aren’t the only species that need beware, though. In the several months since she moved here from California, Stephanie Lackhoff has dealt with two dogs — her neighbor’s Jack-a-poo, Daisy, whom she walks, and her Shih Tzu, Zumi — whose paws have been injured from shattered glass.
"I’ve never seen anything like this," the resident of the 2600 block of Camac Street said of the debris. "When I lived in California and took my dog to the beach, everyone picked up after themselves. Here, no one does."
Lackhoff said she visits the three-by-three block of grass, benches, sidewalks and a playground up to three times a day to walk her pooch. When she noticed Zumi limping and bleeding two weeks ago, she saw the glass and removed it herself before heading to the veterinarian.
"The vet said just to keep her on the leash," Lackhoff said as she watched Zumi scuttle about the grass near the plaza’s 13th Street and Oregon Avenue entrance. "But that’s half the fun of being in the park."
The problems don’t go away when the sun goes down. In fact, that’s when many residents believe it begins.
"Kids go in there to hang out and drink," Lackhoff said.
Ed, a resident of Eighth and Porter streets who declined to give his last name, agreed.
"By the looks of the place, it looks like drinking," he said when asked what he believed went on there at night.
Ed visits Marconi Plaza at least four times a week, metal detector in hand. Since January, he’s collected $200 in coins and discovered there’s more than litter in the park.
"There’s a vent over there that had weapons in it," he said pointing toward the baseball field, "like a butcher knife."
He recalled seeing it sometime in the last few months while out with the detector, but the bright glare of the sun and trash that’s fallen into the unmarked vent since then has made it hard to see exactly what is inside.
"The park never had trash like this. It’s outrageous," he said. "I would be hesitant to bring a child here. I would only bring them during the day."
Marconi Plaza encompasses Oregon to Bigler Street, from 13th to 15th Street. It’s run and maintained by the Fairmount Park Commission, who oversees 62 other neighborhood parks that make up 9,200 acres in the city. The commission has 16 members that meet monthly September through June to review matters like finance, park use, planning and property.
Several calls to the commission were not returned by press time.
Ed said even though he’s seen city workers come in weekly and clean Marconi Plaza since the summer started, he still pitches in and picks up trash — none of it his.
Lackhoff, on the other hand, said she’d only seen the bags in the garbage cans changed.
"They may come in and clean it up now [during the day]," she said. "But tonight it will be a different story."
Last week, AM Malloy pleaded with her fellow residents in the Review’s Opinion section to contact City Council President and 2nd District Rep. Anna Verna, in whose district the park is located, and Fairmount Park Commission District Manager Sam Curry. Malloy detailed how she’s had to have her 5-year-old daughter leave the park because of "filth" like "broken glass, used condoms, torn up mats and dirty messages scrawled on the equipment."
Earlier this week, a letter was sent to Curry from Verna’s office according to Tiffany Justice, who works in the Council president’s office. The letter reads: "It has been brought to my attention that Marconi Park has not been properly maintained. My office has received numerous phone calls complaining of broken play equipment, high weeds and an obscene amount of trash and debris throughout the park. Therefore, I would greatly appreciate you exploring the many issues concerning Marconi Plaza and advising me accordingly."
Verna spokesman Tony Radwanski said her office received a number of calls from residents last week regarding the park and when he visited Marconi Plaza Monday, members of job-training residential facility Ready, Willing & Able, 1211 Bainbridge St., were cleaning the side east of Broad as part of their partnership with the Fairmount Park Commission. Tuesday, the group hit the west side, Radwanski said. The spokesman added Verna’s office asked 4th District police to be diligent in enforcing the no loitering laws.
Malloy also was concerned about what police believe to be a suicide at the park, where a man thought to be homeless was found hung by his neck from a tree early Aug. 10.
"It makes you wonder what goes on in the park at night," she said.
