Park facilities to shut off water, prepare for winter

The City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department will begin to winterize its facilities this week.

All drinking fountains, restrooms, decorative fountains, irrigation systems and water spigots will be drained and the water will be shut off.

“It is necessary for City Parks Operations staff to shut off water to facilities before the first frost or freeze due to the fact that these facilities are not climate controlled,” said Barbara Dunbar, operations coordinator for the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department.

Dunbar said if the facilities were not shut off, the consequence would be broken pipes and waterlines.

These amenities are turned back on as soon as spring temperatures remain consistently nonfreezing, generally in late March or early April, Dunbar said.

The facilities will be gradually winterized and shut down in the coming weeks.

Fall programming was a factor in determining when to turn facilities off, she said.

“The Trick-or Treat Trail will be held in RCA Park, so we know we will need to have restrooms available for that,” Dunbar said.

The Parks Department also takes into account the popularity of parks to keep services on for as long as possible where necessary.

“Bryan Park, Lower Cascades, Ferguson Dog Park and all of our trails experience a very high volume of traffic even when temperatures start to decline, so we will try and keep drinking fountains and restrooms on as long as possible at those locations,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar said shutting off the water at parks is one of many things they do to prepare for cooler temperatures.

The city’s two outdoor pools, Bryan Park Pool and Mills Pool are closed and prepared for cooler weather, but the Frank Southern Ice Arena opens up, Dunbar said.

The city is also preparing its snow removal equipment for the winter months.

“Snow removal equipment becomes a focus for our Shop Mechanic as he begins to take a close look at the condition and number of plows available to Parks Department staff in the event of snow and ice,” she said.

Dunbar said park patrons should expect all outdoor drinking fountains and restrooms to not be available by the conclusion of the first week of November.

“After the first week of November, we recommend to our patrons that they travel with their own water and to consider their destination,” Dunbar said. “We have several locations, trails and parks where port-a-lets are available year round.”

Follow reporter Brianna Meyer on Twitter @brimmeyer.