Crystal Village residents presented a petition in 1990 to oppose building restrooms at Miners Park. Photo by Lynn “Jake” Burton

The first paragraph in a 1990 Valley Journal newspaper article no doubt got most folks’ attention. It quoted Dean Harding asking Carbondale’s Board of Town Trustees: “Do you want your kids to have to watch me take a leak?”
Harding’s remark came after some Crystal Village residents protested a planned $28,000 project at Miners Park that included restrooms, volleyball courts and basketball court improvements. The protest caught former Public Works Director Peter Ware off-guard. “I felt we’d done our homework and that it was a well-planned project. I went through the parks and public works committees,” he said in a previous article.
A restroom opponent argued, “Why do we need a bathroom? The kids can just go home.” Opponents also said that Miners Park improvements would increase park usage, which would bring more noise, boisterous teenage gatherings and other problems. Ware agreed that Sopris Park was overloaded, “So we have to come up with facilities that alleviate the load,” and then said the issue revolves around park philosophy. “Do parks exist for individual neighborhoods or for the entire community?”
The lineup of town trustees at that time included: Nancy Smith, John Foulkrod, Larry Green, Mike Speer and Bob Gardner.
Well-known as a local hitchhiker, Harding —quoted above — kicked off the night’s debate with some pro-restroom arguments. Harding explained he recently thumbed from Glenwood Springs to Carbondale after consuming two cups of coffee and it was “asinine” to have a park without a restroom. “What was I supposed to do? Take a leak in the park?”
At the previous community meeting, one Crystal Village resident said a restroom would present maintenance and vandalism problems, then wondered about the potential for increased drug usage in the park. At the trustee meeting, Concerned Citizen Number Two echoed those worries then presented a petition he said contained 82 signatures against the restrooms and eight in favor. “It’s not a petition. It’s a statement of fact,” he said.
Several audience members, mostly from the Sopris Park area, supported the Miners Park improvements. Andy Taylor agreed: “Parks are for people who don’t have yards or a volleyball court in their backyard.”
Trustee Nancy Smith, also a Sopris Park area resident, disagreed with Miners Park opponents. “I’ve seen a big difference [in park problems] this year. The police have solved the problem.”
Trustee John Foulkrod told the audience he presented the Miners Park restroom plan and he’d take the heat, “But I’m hearing police problems, not bathroom problems.” Town staff had previously said that because the fall youth soccer program is held in Miners Park it needs a restroom. “What are kids going to do? Pee in the bushes?” he concluded.
Trustee Larry Green, who lived across the street from Sopris Park, said there is a big problem at the park and indicated a restroom at Miners Park would take some of the load off. “Carbondale as a whole wants to see Miners Park improved and bathrooms are part of that,” he said. Green then personally guaranteed that Miners Park would be maintained in a timely fashion, which drew the night’s hottest exchange:
Concerned Citizen Number One: “Can we get that in writing?
Green: “Contact me.”
Concerned Citizen Number Two: “We want it in writing.”
Green: “I just promised you that if it [maintenance] doesn’t happen, Peter Ware won’t have a job.”
Trustee Mike Speer, interjecting: “Let’s not cop an attitude … we are not going to let it [lack of maintenance] happen.”
After a moment of quiet, trustee Bob Gardner made a motion to move forward with the park improvement project and also to install more playground equipment (which the concerned citizens had previously said they wanted). The motion passed 6-0 with then-mayor Bill Gray absent.
After the meeting, the Miners Park contingent was asked for their reaction. Concerned Citizen Number Two replied, “If the park is maintained, we’ve won, but I haven’t seen maintenance in 13 years.”
Another Crystal Village resident said, “This is a good indication to voters. They (the trustees) are no longer listening in the best interests of the community. If they don’t listen on this, they won’t listen on other things.”