July 4th weekend has come and gone. It was a perfect day for being in the park, as attendance numbers showed. Sharon Woods had 5,150 people come through the park on Independence day (over 1,300 more than the year before) and 10,959 people came through for the weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). 5,150 people is a pretty high number for a one day total at Sharon Woods. So high, in fact, that we ran out of parking and had to close the park for about a hour and half. Rangers up at the front entrance take the brunt of the public's frustration when they can't get into the park. Unfortunately, Rangers do not have time to explain all the reasons why the park is closed. Traffic on Cleveland Ave travels at 45 mph and can be heavy in volume. Rangers need to keep traffic moving in order to not cause safety risks. Rest assured, they do not want to close the park anymore than the public wants it to be closed.
Other parks in the district also showed high attendance. Battelle Darby Creek led the way with 6,158 people on July 4th and 13,694 people for the whole weekend. As a whole the park district had 40,292 people on July 4th and 117,902 for the entire weekend.
With all of these people in the parks over the holiday weekend, there were really no major incidents, and the minor incidents were mostly parking infractions, possession of alcohol, and fireworks. Thanks to all the Rangers for helping to maintain the safety in the parks during the increased visitation. Thanks to the rest of the park staff for getting the parks in tip top shape before the weekend, and getting them back into shape after the weekend. And thanks to you, the visitor for coming out to enjoy the Holiday at your Metro Parks.
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