Dick Nichols Park Construction (Austin: crimes, upkeep, live)

[bop109]

The playground at Dick Nichols is under construction. Does anyone know what they are doing (crossing my fingers for a splash pad)? Also, any idea when it will be complete?

[Mom2NAC]

Good question! I had heard it would be about 3 months. A splash pad would be AWESOME, especially because I have 3 small kids that I don't feel comfortable taking to the pool alone.

[Trainwreck20]

They have the dolphin thingy there, that squirts water. Honestly, my little ones like pushing the button more than playing in the water, though. In reality, I would find it a little extravagant of the city to build a full splash pad type park, all things considered. Upkeep can be horrendous.

And, although I hate to admit it, I think my wife told me what they are doing there, but I don't remember :P.

[suit-n-tie white guy]

Was that the park where the kids found the loaded gun? It was a Glock I believe.

[Trainwreck20]

Never heard that (and suspect that I would, if it was), but I guess it is possible. It is the park at Beckett between Davis and Convict Hill, just west of MoPac.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by suit-n-tie white guy

Was that the park where the kids found the loaded gun? It was a Glock I believe.

I had not heard about that, but found this dated July 8, 2008. It was a different park. I'll bet that was one embarrassed police officer. With all the officers walking around with guns on their belt, its inevitable that one will get misplaced occasionally.

A group of mothers and kindergarten students at a South Austin park found the loaded gun of an Austin police officer who did not know for hours that his weapon was missing, officials said today.

Austin police Lt. Donald Baker said supervisors are reviewing how Officer Daniel Eveleth's Glock handgun might have fallen from his holster while he was at Slaughter Creek Metropolitan Park training a police dog at about 5 a.m. Monday.

Officials said they did not immediately know whether one of the children or a parent discovered the gun.

Officers responded to the park after one of the mothers called 911 and learned that the gun was registered to Eveleth, who has been an officer for about 11 years.
Moms, kids find officer's loaded gun in South Austin park - Democratic Underground

The link to the Statesman article on that site produces a blank page, probably because it is so old.

Another site quotes the article here http://policecrimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4485

[suit-n-tie white guy]

I thought Slaughter and Escarpment was southwest Austin. It live close to there.

[Trainwreck20]

Slaughter/Escarpment is SW Austin, I guess the paper only knows the four cardinal directions.

[Trainwreck20]

The playground at Dick Nichols is under construction. Does anyone know what they are doing (crossing my fingers for a splash pad)? Also, any idea when it will be complete?

Okay, the construction has been completed for a while and we just got around to going back to the park. Changes that I noticed (did not look very hard):
- The gravel has been removed and replaced with wood mulch. It is very soft and springy, and much, much less dusty. For now, a nice improvement, will have to see how it ages;
- There are rubber-like mats at the bottom of the slides and under the swings, so where the gravel used to dig-out and leave a pit, the surface now stays level and is padded. Again, nice, but may wear out eventually, will have to wait and see;
- the 'chair' swing (big plastic red swing) which I assumed was a handicapped swing, is now gone;
- All the swings look repaired/replaced. For those that have been there and know the 'squeak' the old swings made, it is (at least temporarily) gone;
- The 'dolphin' water squirty thingy has had the mat repaired around it. The lack of gravel in the area means there is no longer gravel on the mat to bruise bare feet;
- the 'jeep' has been moved, did not look to see if anything else changed on it.

And, on a side note, some taggers went wild on the equipment/bathrooms sometime during the construction or right after. Sometimes it is good when your small children can't read yet. If yours can, be aware that there may be some questions asked about a few words.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by suit-n-tie white guy

I thought Slaughter and Escarpment was southwest Austin. It live close to there.

This thread is about Dick Nichols Park, on Beckett Road north of Davis Lane.

The gun incident was at the Circle C Metro Park S. of Slaughter Lane.