Kids are getting hurt at Buck Park.
A broken ankle, a twisted knee, and a few balls in the face are just a few of the students’ recent injuries due to the substandard playing surface. The softball field is ragged and uneven, pocked with holes and actually forming small sand dunes where the outfield meets the infield. Rocks are working their way up through the infield sand as well.
“At this level (of play) it gets dangerous. The balls are pretty fast. It’s not just an aesthetic issue,” said softball coach Scott Harris, whose team is heading to state playoffs for the second year in a row. “The most important thing is, you want a safe field.”
Community members are rallying to discuss possible solutions. But the Orcas Park and Rec District board says that volunteers can’t legally lay a finger on those fields as long as the park belongs to the school.
The park belonged to the Buck family from 1938 to 1987, when Robert Buck inherited the land and donated it to Orcas Center. Orcas Center deeded the park to Buck Park Association, a non-profit organization, in 1990. The association located a $300,000 Washington state grant limited to state agencies (such as schools) and deeded the land to the Orcas Island School District so that the school could legally use the grant to construct the park in 1992.
“The (school) district took it over some years ago with the understanding that a park and rec district would be created to maintain it,” said Principal Barbara Kline. “We just really can’t afford to maintain it they way it should be maintained. There was at that time nobody else who could take it on; it was one of those gifts to the community that someone had to accept, so we accepted it… I’m happy to be working with the rec program to provide an arrangement to take care of Buck Park.”
“I understand it was originally done only under duress, with the idea that it would be passed on to someone else shortly. (The school) didn’t take it on thinking they were going to run it… but nobody made sure that the transition happened,” said Hilary Canty, Orcas Island Community Foundation president.
“As a parent, I really hope the park district takes (Buck Park) on. The school stepped up to help the community; now it’s our turn to return the favor. We have this great resource thanks to their actions, and now it’s time to own it. It was a gift to the community, not to the school. The rec district gives us a chance to pay for what we’ve been enjoying all these years,” said Canty. “If we can free up some money for academics… (the school doesn’t) need to be paying for maintenance.”
Asked to elucidate the school board’s stance, board member Janet Brownell responded,
“Buck Park is a fantastic asset for not only the school but the community. It’s a huge piece of property for the school district to maintain on the budget we have. I don’t think anyone on the school board likes that fact, but … we have limited resources and we do as much as we can. I think the community would like to see better and more consistent maintenance; hopefully that’s something we can address in the future in conjunction with the park and rec district. If not, we’ll just have to figure it out on our own.”
The park will continue to belong to the school until voters fund the Park and Rec District by passing a levy measure, up for vote on the November ballot – at which point the district and school could begin negotiations. Orcas Park and Rec District board members have said that Buck Park is a key priority on their agenda.
“We are the last, best hope,” said chair Martha Farish at a recent board meeting. “It appears we are the only entity with the ability to put an option before voters… to fix the potholes at Buck Park… Unfortunately we have to ask for the money before we can even go down that path,” as the board can’t officially negotiate with the school until the district is funded. The board has said it plans to determine the park’s maintenance requirements and to get bids from contractors.
