Columbia keeps city parks closed amid coronavirus pandemic, with an exception
Even as South Carolina slowly reopens from its coronavirus-induced lockdown, Columbia’s city parks will remain closed for up to 60 days after a city council vote on Tuesday. But city officials also want to clarify how the closure is being enforced.
Although park facilities such as playground equipment and athletic fields remain closed, walkways and open green spaces are open to the public, as long as social distancing guidelines are followed.
Before Tuesday’s vote, council members voiced confusion about how the closure is being enforced. Despite the announced closure, most parks remain accessible to the public. At Columbia’s Riverfront Park, crowds taking advantage of spring weather walk on the Three Rivers Greenway along the canal, past signs encouraging them to maintain social distancing on the path.
“We’ve tried to enforce greenways softly all along,” City Manager Teresa Wilson told council. “Our rangers can guide people, they can be nice and kind, but firm.”
Primarily, that approach has taken the form of signs and other means of communicating park closures to the public. Where they can, the parks department has locked access gates that can keep the public out of parks, like at Valencia Park off of South Kilbourne Road, where a padlock was placed on the gate.
But most parks — open spaces almost by definition — don’t have an access point that can be closed. So parks officials have sought to reduce activity by wrapping caution tape around playground equipment, keeping children from contacting surfaces where the coronavirus could lurk.
“That’s been a challenge, because kids will be kids,” parks director Randy Davis told The State.
Wilson said the only problem parks staff has run into were groups congregating early on along the Saluda River Greenway. “Others have been receptive to social distancing,” she said.
Columbia closed its city parks in March, part of an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Health officials have emphasized the need to socially distance and avoid large public gatherings to prevent the spread of the disease. The city closed its parks the same week schools were closed, and within a week Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order allowing law enforcement to break up gatherings of three or more people.
Two months later, as South Carolina starts to allow businesses to reopen and is preparing for state employees to return to work, Columbia City Council will take a more cautious approach.
Councilman Daniel Rickenmann said he’s been lobbied by constituents to reopen tennis facilities. He argued the sport can be played while players keep their distance from each other.
“I think people are just stressed to get out at this point,” Rickenmann said.
Wilson said she was reluctant to open facilities for one sport while keeping others closed, and preferred the city maintain a consistent message.
Recently, Davis said the department has boarded up basketball hoops in some parks to put a stop to pick-up games. He said people playing basketball have been the most common complaint the parks department has received since the closure went into effect.
Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine said she recently saw people playing baseball on a city field. When she spoke to them, they also said the players were spread out from each other across the field.
“I’d agree tennis lends itself to social distancing, but... at Greenview, you see a lot of people out there when the courts are open. They’re waiting to get on the court. It becomes a gathering spot,” Devine said.
Likewise, Councilman Will Brennan said he’s seen people on bicycles riding around the pump track at Owens Field. Assistant City Manager Henry Simons said the track should not be open to the public.
“We may need to be more intentional with the signage, or we may have to take measures to close it off,” he said.
Mayor Steve Benjamin said he isn’t comfortable opening parks completely until South Carolina experiences a more sustained deceleration in cases.
“We’re not there yet in terms of the articulated steps from public health officials,” Benjamin said. “I don’t want to be swayed by what others are doing.”
City staff said they will work to communicate the guidelines to the public. Some council members were concerned about confusion from the governor’s order opening private pools, even as city pools remain off-limits.
Even as the closure continues, Benjamin said he wants to ensure the city keeps up its soft touch approach.
“I don’t think it should be our fire marshal or police chief’s job to handle spacing in lines outside of businesses,” Benjamin said. “We just need to be clear what the rules are. This is not a criminal offense. We just want to promote public health.”
Once parks are given the green light to reopen, Davis said the city will work to disinfect park equipment before the public is invited back in. But two months into the shutdown, Davis said the department isn’t discussing reopening just yet.
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