Frank Uryasz drives along Gillham Road nearly every day on his way to work. The section of park land that runs parallel to his route always looked well-maintained south of 39th Street. Once he crossed 39th to the north, though, Uryasz noticed a difference: dense, overgrown foliage made those parts of Hyde Park seem dark and ominous.
So Uryasz called up the city's Parks and Recreation Department and learned what several other people in this week's feature also know: the Ward Family Foundation pays for the enhanced upkeep at Loose Park and at Gillham Park south of 39th Street. "The parks budget has been cut over the years, and the parks are aging," Uryasz says. "Aging parks require greater maintenance."
When sending a check to a national nonprofit, one can only assume that their donation is making some kind of dent in their cause. But a contribution to Parks and Recreation would result in a difference he could see right out his car window, Uryasz realized.
"My wife, Ann, and I agreed that we would provide funding for enhanced maintenance of Hyde Park," he says. "What the Wards had done up to 39th Street, we could take and do up to 36th Street."
Last year was the first year that the Uryaszs paid for upkeep in Hyde Park. The trees were trimmed and pruned, the turf was mowed more often and sprayed for weeds, and trash collectors swung by more often -- "the same stuff you'd do for your own lawn," Uryasz says. But rather than paying for it through its own budget, Parks and Recreation sends Uryasz the bill. He doesn't even claim it as a tax deduction, he says.
As one might have guessed by this point, Uryasz does pretty well for himself. Years ago, Uryasz ran the sports sciences division of the National Collegiate Athletics Association. When the NCAA moved its headquarters to Indianapolis from Kansas City in 1999, Uryasz opted to stay. That same year, he founded the National Center for Drug Free Sport Inc., a sports drug-testing company. His company has collection centers all over the country that test athletes for illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs. The NCAA is now one of his clients.
Uryasz is aware that his contribution to the parks is far beyond the means of the average Kansas Citian. "Not everyone is in the position to support the parks like we have, and we know that," he says. "But there are things anyone can do -- it's as simple as picking up trash in the park or reporting to the parks department or the city when you see something that needs to be attended to from a maintenance perspective." The parks department doesn't have enough staff to check on every park every day, Uryasz says, so a citizen can do the parks staff a favor by complaining.
On June 25, Uryasz's company marked its 10-year anniversary. To celebrate, his staff planned a cleanup day in Gillham Park. "They know Ann and I have a special affinity for the parks," Uryasz says. "We spent a day doing things the city doesn't have the staff to do. We painted bleachers, cleaned sidewalks, did trash removal. It's not an expensive thing, it just requires time."
Picking up litter is something Uryasz does every time he walks Hyde Park for exercise, which is often. (He and his wife live in Janssen Place.) He owns a stick with a grabber at one end that he uses to pick up trash thrown from the road. "I'm waging a personal war on juice boxes," he says.
Constantly cutting the budget for parks will prove unsustainable, Uryasz predicts. "Ultimately, as a city, we're going to have to increase our financial support of the parks and boulevard system," he says. "It will inevitably come down to enhancing public-private partnerships. We can talk about our beautiful parks and boulevards, but then we have an obligation to ensure that, indeed, they are beautiful."
Feel guilty? Me too. What have you done for your neighborhood park lately?
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Building a Mosque at Ground Zero has to really be the ridiculous idea within the history of humanity, I very seriously do think it's purposely meant, at best, to insight controversy. I'm no conspiracy theorist yet it is either shameful or evil, most probably the two. wendi
Feel guilty?
Not in the least. If the city would quit pissing away money on stupid shit, they'd have plenty to take care of the parks.
It's nice of Frank to do this, but he shouldn't have to. Unlike most cities, KC actually has a city income tax. What the hell do they do with all that money? They're sure not using it for the free trash service that was promised back when it was voted in.
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