Open Courts, Closed Courts
Ron Powell notes how LPS is somewhat unique in locking its tennis courts to keep out the public. LPS’s propensity for locking up facilities is something I first noticed years ago after high school when I tried to find a track to run on. It’s an extremely annoying phenomenon for those of us who figure the facilities we paid for ought to be at least somewhat available to us.
Should more LPS facilities be open to the general public?
The Comments
JT says The problem with the tennis June 12, 2009 at 7:39am
The problem with the tennis courts is that skateboarding and roller hockey players tear that materiel up pretty good. It’s pretty expensive to resurface courts so that’s why LPS locks them up.
Mr. Wilson says RE: The problem with the tennis June 12, 2009 at 8:13am
Fair enough, but aren’t there legitimate ways to deal with that? Opening certain courts at certain times on certain days, for example (permitting easier observation). Or, say, requiring check-in at the school office.
Karin Dalziel says RE: The problem with the tennis June 12, 2009 at 9:16am
Ah, I was going to mention that when I was a kid, we used the tennis courts to play street hockey. They were just asphalt like the rest of the grounds, though, and they took the nets down over the weekend.
Dave K says A few years ago we June 12, 2009 at 8:58am
A few years ago we got some guys together to play flag football, and chose a field by the middle school between 14th and 27th on Pine Lake. We weren’t out there for 20 minutes before a guy came by and told us the field was the property of Lincoln Public Schools and that we were trespassing. I didn’t quite understand that and argued with him for a couple minutes. He threatened to call the cops, at which point we decided to leave because it was going to be more trouble than worth.
I looked into it, and school property is officially the property of LPS, and rights granted to it are those that would be granted to a private business. There are several ideological problems with that, and as soon as I start and win my crusade against Lincoln’s awful stoplight system, I will tackle that one.
Dave K says RE: A few years ago we June 12, 2009 at 8:59am
I forgot to mention, this happened on a Saturday morning in the late summer/early fall.
Karin Dalziel says RE: A few years ago we June 12, 2009 at 9:18am
Lincoln doesn’t have that many park spaces, it seems a waste not to use the school’s space.
I can sort of see their point- we found things that school kids should NOT find in our school yard, but those things weren’t left on a Saturday morning, most likely.
Gene says RE: Open Courts, Closed Courts June 13, 2009 at 2:29pm
Doesn’t the city of Lincoln have some open tennis courts in a few of its parks?