Kevin J.
Yelp
Well landscaped park nestled along the banks of the Clinton River. There's fountains, playscapes, pavilions in the style of old timey architecture that don't quite pull it off, bridges and fields. There used to be wetlands but they were recently cut down? I don't know, maybe this is an ecological thing that has to be done periodically, like when they figured out a certain degree of forest fires were actually good? Seems bad but hopefully they grow back.
With the long narrow shape of this park and the way it runs from Moravian to Groesbeck I really feel like it could use a second parking lot on the east end. The lot they have can get completely filled up and they could use some access from the other side. There's a large field between some condos and the Aldi, Sonic, chain stores aplenty on Groesbeck sandwiched in by the Meijer on the other side I feel like would be perfect for park expansion. It's just sitting there and maybe they could have a parking lot on the end of that. They could put in basketball courts, tennis, gym equipment, anything really, it just seems to be fallow land that is directly adjacent to George George park.
If you're really adventurous try a walk underneath the spray painted bridge under Groesbeck and a walk through the woods on the other side. I don't think this is technically part of the park either but it's right there and there's not any NO TRESPASSING signs to be found. Most of the graffiti is of the unskilled adolescent variety and the paths through the woods are sometimes barely navigable but hey, I did say adventurous, right? I've even found what looks to be long since disused homeless encampments back in those wilds so best be adventurous and cautious, back there. Okay, so most park patrons aren't going to want to go back there but that's one thing I like about it. And it's woods along a river that go back a long way. With a train trestle crossing the Clinton River. Again, just like the field, I think this area would be a perfect area for park expansion. Let's elevate this place to George George George!
There's also a lonely house along the Clinton right within the boundaries of the park, again without any NO TRESPASSING signs. They have their own separate locked gate and a long driveway that if you wander a few feet is easy to mistake for one of the park's paved paths. And no fencing at all! I was respectful enough to not walk closer to the house than the mailbox along their path but what an odd setup!
Not far from the apparently grandfathered in residence is a field area near the river with signage that says Woodrow W Woody park which I guess is a subpark with another goofy repetitive name? No clear boundaries between Woodrow W Woody and George George. Are they really separate entities? If you wonder farther off that way by Moravian there's another bridge with mostly bad graffiti, too.
This place is super normal middle of the road Americana. There was about twenty cars in the lot on an uncharacteristically warm February day with some kid getting the jump on senior pictures on one of the scenic bridges. But off on the margins there's a bunch of weirdness only weirdos like me would go looking for. And if the park did expand it would kind of ruin it but it would make this place more of a destination.
