Kids played in heat with no water at this West End park for years. How one man changed that

Julio Rodriguez watched as a man in a blue shirt got out of a Louisville Metro Government vehicle, walked up to a water fountain with a screwdriver and began to work on it.

For years, Rodriguez said, he's been asking the Shawnee Neighborhood Association and Metro Parks why the water wasn't on at E. Leland Taylor Park, an 8.8-acre park in the Shawnee neighborhood in western Louisville.

His concerns had grown this week − with sunny weather in the 90s − that children playing in the park needed to have access to water.

On Wednesday morning, the water feature sat dry, and a push of the button on the water fountain yielded no water.

Was the water turned off when many cities and schools nationally shut off public water fountains during COVID 19?

"No," Rodriguez said. "The park hasn't had water since even before COVID."

Did the pipe burst, cutting off water to the drinking fountain and a water feature?

"You would see puddles of water around the park," he said.

The Courier Journal called and emailed Metro Parks to ask the same questions: Are both the drinking fountain and water feature broken? Did a pipe burst or does the water just need to be turned on?

Less than an hour after the Courier Journal's email, Rodriguez watched a city plumber bring a solution to his years-long quest.

Water escaped from a column in the center of the splash pad, dampening the dry cement.

Rodriguez, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 50 years, was fed up with the conditions at the park when he walked into the Shawnee Library Tuesday to talk with the Courier Journal. Reporters and editors were working there as part of the company's mobile newsroom, an initiative to better cover areas that don't always get media attention and to improve the staff's connection with the community.

Rodriguez told the Courier Journal of his attempts to bring back water to E. Leland Taylor Park.

A day later, while standing at the park, Rodriguez smiled as about 30 small children from the Shawnee Boys & Girls Club walked past after playing on the park's playground.

"I don’t want water in the park for myself," Rodriguez said, his long gray hair blowing in the breeze. "But it’s for the kids."

Daryle W. Unseld Jr., the president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Kentuckiana, didn't even know the water at the park worked.

"It's the first day I've ever seen it on," Unseld Jr. said. "I'm a little disappointed because I believe it was probably only triggered because somebody knew you were working on a story."

Unseld Jr. and Rodriguez now have concerns about Metro Parks turning on the water and leaving.

"They didn't sanitize the area," Rodriguez said.

"There's broken glass on the splash pad," Unseld Jr. said. "I feel like if you're going to turn it on, it needs to be a safe space for young people. And as I just walked over there, it's not a safe space. We don't even send our kids over there."

The park has other issues too, including illegal dumping around a dumpster used by the Boys & Girls Club.

"We requested a dumpster that locks, but people will still do illegal dumping," Unseld Jr. said. "We have our staff up here cleaning the park for our kids."

Unseld said the organization has tried to schedule meetings with a Metro Council person, but the problems are growing with no meeting planned.

Homeless people also like to camp in the woods behind the park, often using drugs and leaving behind needles, both Unseld and Rodriguez said.

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"I’m really hopeful of a collective effort by the community, the city and the residents to keep this park clean and safe for the young people that we serve," Unseld Jr. said.

In a response email to the Courier Journal's original request for an interview regarding the water at E. Leland Taylor Park, Metro Parks communications person Jon Reiter said: "We weren't aware of any reason why the water wouldn't be on. The water was off at the meter, and it was turned back on today. Our team is keeping an eye on it the rest of this week to see if there are any areas of concern, such as water leak or drainage issue."

The Courier Journal sent a follow-up email to Metro Parks asking what plans there were for sanitizing and cleaning up the glass. Metro Parks did not respond until we asked again on Monday, messaging the mayor's office and Metro Parks. We were told maintenance crews were sent to clean up the glass last week.

E. Leland Taylor Park was identified last year in a survey done by the Parks Alliance of Louisville as one of 30 parks with top priority needs for capital investments. The priority sites are broken up into 10 parks. E. Leland Taylor is on the list as a third-priority site, meaning more than 20 parks need greater capital improvements.

E. Leland Taylor Park has received $80,000 in investments in the last two decades.

Of that investment, $75,000 came from the city's budget.

For comparison, Cherokee Park has received more than $8.5 million in funding, including nearly $1.2 million from the city's budget.

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The Parks for All survey asked local residents what their top priorities were for amenities in their parks. The top three rehabilitation priorities, across the metro, were multiuse trails, restrooms and water fountains or bottle-filling stations. The fourth was swimming pools.

"We've come a long way to nothing," Rodriguez said. "From good, to bad."

Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise sports reporter, with a focus on the health and safety of athletes. She also reports on the horse racing industry and Louisville's 120 public parks. She can be reached at skuzydym@courier-journal.com. Follow her for updates on Twitter at @stephkuzy.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Water feature returns to E. Leland Taylor Park after questions