Toledo Union Journal

Demand Still Growing
For More Recreation Facilities
in Toledo

(First in a series)

By BUDDY PACHOLSKI

The clatter of shuffleboard pucks, the stamping of feet of senior citizens to a square dance, the sound of applause of a kid or adult belting a ball for a hit or the shrill of laughter of youngsters at games and field events—any of these brings a smile of satisfaction to all onlookers or participants.

Bringing on that smile of satisfaction is the job of the Toledo City Recreation Division staff and they do it well. That Toledo's youngsters, adults and senior citizens have taken to recreation in a big way as a result of a well planned and organized program is proven by statistics.

During the past summer months the recreational facilities, organized programs and playgrounds were used one million times.

The summer activities were climaxed with a recreational festival sponsored by Toledo's Citizen Advisory Recreation Commission. The commission was organized by City Council in 1947 to aid the recreation division in its bid for financial aid to meet the demand of the growing recreational program.

The 10 day festival, planned for participation in and enjoyment of men, women and children of all ages and walks of life, had 10,000 participating and 80,000 as spectators.

And, next year as in previous years, the recreational participation program looms to excel this season's record.

Yet with it all, the recreation division has its financial problems. How to meet the demand for the increased recreation participation and additional play grounds is the big question.

The division staff along with the Citizens Advisory Commission, a representative group of 11 from all walks of life, points out that problems in providing adequate recreation are not only due to increased population but that speaking percentagewise, participation in recreation is outpacing increased population.

The recreation division was organized in 1921 by City Council but did not function actively until 1930 when 15 playgrounds were developed. Population then was estimated at 250,000. In 1947, with population hitting over 282,000, there were 37 playgrounds. Today, with a population of 341,649, there are only 54 playgrounds.

As to the program for youngsters which is the hub of the recreation division's efforts to ward off juvenile delinquency, the division has excelled in its efforts towards that goal.

On the youth program, in comparison to several years ago, there were eight teams in the junior or better known now as Knot-Hole league.

Today there are 299 teams.

Almost 5,000 boys and girls between the ages of 10 to 19 played on them this summer. Each of these teams was provided with balls, bats, and other equipment.

Over 3,000 baseballs, 600 soft-balls and approximately 100 dozen bats were issued.

This of course does not include organized adult softball leagues which used city recreational ball diamonds.

Today with the population in excess of 341,000 there are only two adult and seven junior swimming pools. Attendance at these pools during the summer was over 430,000.

Even though over one million was counted as users of the recreational facilities, equipment and playgrounds, it did not meet the demand. Equipment had to be loaned on a first come first serve basis. Swimming pools, lacking in certain areas, necessitated crowding and over-crowding on many days. Baseball and softball diamonds had to be limited to teams for use due to the large demand.

Supervision for adult group programs had to be curtailed because a shortage of supervisory help.

The Advisory Commission, which is sponsoring a Tax Levy of 1 Mill-5 year Capital Improvement Levy for Recreational purposes, explains that expansion and additional equipment is vitally needed to meet the growing demand for an adequate recreational program.

They pointed out that even though Toledo has an unusually fine recreational program which can be attributed to foresight, planning and efficient operation, there is a blemish on the city's reputation.

A survey conducted by the National Recreation Association pointed out that Toledo was lagging in its recreational program as long ago as 1945.

Since then population and acreage of the city have grown by leaps and bounds, yet no provisions have been made in the recreation budget, they said.

This was just an average day at Scott Park pool this summer, but on a really hot day, there just wasn't enough water to go around for everyone who wanted a dip. More pools are desperately needed, the Toledo Recreation Division says. Over 430,000 attendance was recorded during the summer for Toledo (two adult pools and seven junior pools.