What's happening to Troy's Parks? Are they being taken over by special interests? Perhaps!

Troy, including the "Burgh," has about 300 acres of parkland for the enjoyment of all its 45,000 citizens. This includes Beman, Frear, Prospect, and Seminary Parks in Troy proper, along with Knickerbocker, Powers, and the Village "Green" in Lansingburgh.

A cursory review of these parks reveal a pattern of abandonment over the last 20 years and recent rediscovery of at least one. Troy received its first park before it was even incorporated. Jacob D. Vanderheyden gave the village of Troy three lots for use as a public square on May 10, 1796; today that comprises Seminary or Congress Park, between First and Second Streets. It was enlarged when the city traded some lots with the Presbyterian Church. Many events took place in this park throughout the years.

The park apparently has been claimed by Russell Sage College since they have incorporated it, with fencing, into their massive renovation and face lift project. While they say it is a "public common" on a small plaque at one of their entrances, I am very suspicious. They have paved way too much of the park in my opinion.

The Village Green that Jacob A. Lansing donated to the Village of Lansingburgh on July 4, 1793, at 112th Street, now has three quarters of the park taken over by baseball and is fenced and locked. Only about a quarter of the park is available to all residents.

In 1917, the William H. Frear family donated 22 acres of land for a park. Twenty more acres were donated by Jennie Vanderheyden in 1923, and another parcel by the Eddy estate culminated in the present day 150 acre Frear Park. Much if not the majority of this park has been taken over by a golf course. In fact, it's called the Fear Park Golf Course!

Prospect Park, also known as Warren Park sits atop Mount Ida overlooking the city, and was created in 1903 after the city purchased it from the Warren family. The park was laid out beautifully by city engineer Garnet D. Baltimore, the first African American graduate of RPI. Prospect Park had winding roads, outlooks with towers that permitted viewing the Hudson River valley for a distance over 20 miles, fountains, bandshell, playgrounds, and flower gardens. The former residences of the Warren family were converted to a museum and casino. It even had a pool that was popular when I was a kid.

Prospect Park lost its pool, the buildings burned or torn down, and other amenities disappeared during the 70's to 90's; Trojans abandoned the park. However, thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers, the park is slowly coming back to life.

The alarming trend here is that these parks were designed and acquired for all Troy citizens, the key word being "all." They have been taken over by special interest groups. Golf courses and locked ball parks are not for everyone. I have nothing against either sport, but the large areas they need preclude other uses. On the other hand, perhaps this is the only part of Troy's population willing to use the parks? Beman Park (1879) and Knickerbocker Park (1924) seem to me under utilized.

Perhaps the reality of the situation is that there isn't a population anymore that enjoys picnics, strolling, and passive park use. Perhaps we are just too busy zooming around in cars, talking on cell phones, logging onto the Internet, or playing XBox. It's a real shame. In the meantime, playing ball might simply be better than the obvious alternative. As one developer told me years ago, "You want green space? No problem, we'll paint it any color you want."