Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of NexusPark in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024.
Columbus, we have a parking problem.
Parking availability at NexusPark, and the accompanying Circle K Fieldhouse, did not meet the test the weekend of Oct. 5 and 6, when two large sporting events were held, a wrestling tournament at the fieldhouse and a softball tournament across the street at fields near Hamilton Center.
Out-of-towners, some apparently not willing to walk the distance from the Columbus Regional Health parking on the opposite side of NexusPark, began looking for closer options and took advantage of them when available. And when the CRH parking filled up, everyone began looking for any parking option, including in nearby parking lots of nearby private businesses.
This included recreational vehicles and campers parking in some of the private lots for much of the weekend.
In Indianapolis, or other bigger cities around the state, that would have gotten a vehicle towed.
But in Columbus, where sports tourism is important, it did not.
That’s not to say it didn’t get a few people a little upset. Customers who had hoped to grab a bite to eat over the weekend at one of the NexusPark restaurants struggled to find a place to park and were pretty vocal on social media. And traffic was pretty congested in the area as unfamiliar drivers attempted to navigate around ongoing construction near the parks department entrance.
Parks officials took the positive stance that having this many visitors at NexusPark was a great thing for sports tourism in Columbus.
“It’s kind of a good problem to have,” Jones added. “It was busy. All the restaurants inside NexusPark, Dunham’s, all the retail … were completely full. So, it was a really good weekend for Columbus.”
But they also acknowledged they have a “learning curve” on how to handle parking for multiple large events after the weekend’s snafus and said they would do a “debrief” on the issues to alleviate issues in the future.
Parks should look carefully at what is scheduled in the coming weeks, the number of people expected and the number of vehicles that will need parking spaces as part of that “debrief.”
And while local businesses nearby are “good sports” when it comes to this, it is really not appropriate to expect them to give up their private parking spaces so recreational vehicles and campers can take up multiple spaces throughout the weekend.
Communication to those participating in tournaments about where participants may park, and where they should not park, particularly if they are “camping for the weekend,” should be clear before the event, with appropriate signage placed on “day of event.”
