A celebration was held for the updating of Rarick Park, Warsaw, Thursday, Aug. 31. Shown from left are Shaun Gardner, maintenance director; Ben Mikel, Parks Department; Larry Plummer, Parks & Recreation superintendent; Michelle Boxell, Park Board; Mark Mikel, Parks Department; Wendy Mink, Midstates Recreation; Adam Howard, maintenance supervisor; Dustin Wiggs, Parks Department; and Joe Thallemer, Warsaw mayor. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union

By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WARSAW — The Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department celebrated the revamping of Rarick Park, 413 S. Washington St., Warsaw, Thursday, Aug. 31.

Work on Rarick Park was started in fall 2022 with some of the infrastructure work and finished “a few months ago,” said Parks and Recreation Superintendent Larry Plummer.

Updating the park was part of the Parks Department’s five-year master plan. The Parks Department tries to update one of its 19 parks every year, so they have them basically on a 10-year cycle.

“We actually did a separate survey of the neighborhood and this is the result of what the neighborhood wanted to see in the park,” Plummer said.

“We had a multi-playground structure here that was 30 years old and a set of swings, and that’s all it was,” Plummer said.

Updating the park included raising parts of the ground, creating several stations for kids to play on, plus a little walking trail and redoing the basketball court.

“Our hope is that it kind of revitalizes this neighborhood” as well as gives kids a chance to play at the park, he said.
Plummer said the park includes about $60,000 in playground equipment, about $20,000 for concrete and the gazebo and redoing the basketball court for about $20,000. The work was done in-house and saved tens of thousands.

A 2020 park inspection report noted burn holes in tubes were filed down and “lots of graffiti” was removed at the park.

When asked if he thinks the improvements will help with decreasing vandalism, Plummer said, “That’s what we’re hoping.”

The Parks Department got rid of the enclosed tubes at the park and there’s now surveillance cameras at Rarick Park.

Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said the Parks Department deserved applause for sticking to its master plan. He called the park wonderful.

There is handicaped-accessible equipment at the park, Thallemer said. He’s sure the basketball court will get used, too.

He commented that with the adjacent Marsh building, the city will hopefully soon have a grocery store at that location so kids can go there and get candy and come back to Rarick and play.

Plummer said it’s a beautiful park now.