[captain jack]

The news this morning said that the grass areas of the park will remain open.

They will lock the bathrooms up and lock the gates to the parking areas.
The ballfields and playground equipment will not be maintained, the grass will not be mowed, and the trash will not be removed.

If the funding is not found, this will take effect in January 2010.

So, what this means to disc golfers;

First, the trash issue. Pack it in, pack it out. Practice " leave no trace" golfing.
I think the only people concerned by this are the heavy alcohol drinkers.
I see lots of people who are just sh#tfaced out on the course, I think they are worried that when they drive home drunk, which they will, if they have a bag with 12 empties in the trunk they are more likely to get thrown in jail.

I think every one else is fine with this.

As to crime and new unsavory park patrons, I can't see how anything will change. The same people still live on all the borders of the park, and the cops don't wander around in there anyways, so closing the gates and not cutting the grass won't change anything in this respect, in fact, with no bathrooms there will probably be less people living in the park.

I don't think this will change the schedule for the new construction, the funds for that should not be related to park closures, and gating the upper parking lot would be done for that anyways.

Bottom line is, as far as disc golf, I think this is a good thing, less patrons will come to the park for other uses, leaving it for us to use and take care of.
If the grass gets too long I'm sure the city won't oppose us mowing some lanes ourselves.