Rec facilities good, always room for improvement

'McCook has all its recreational bases covered' we headlined a story Friday about a recent city survey.

We stand by that headline, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. That also doesn't mean there can't be a chicken-or-egg argument made.

Golf is the fourth most popular outdoor activity but that's not surprising, since McCook's Heritage Hills is considered one of the nation's top public courses.

Walking is a natural as the number one activity, followed by baseball/softball, also a natural, thanks to local organizations and sponsors, and swimming, thanks to our large public pool.

It's great to see the progress on the walking trail, now being extended from East H to East 11th, along Kelley Creek. That should further encourage walking jogging/running and bicycling, other activities in the top 10.

We would like to see further improvements in the latter, making McCook more friendly to cyclists -- how about removing sparsely-used parking along H Street east from Norris, and creating in effect, if not officially a bicycle lane?

An up-and-coming sport is disc golf, which has been growing in popularity since the Kelley Park course opened in 2006. Hundreds of players enjoy the course every summer, many of them coming from out of town for tournaments. Disc golf ranked as 10th most popular in the rec survey, with 17 of the 152 respondents saying they had played it the previous year.

The swimming pool is one of the biggest issues to be dealt with in the coming years, and the survey indicates we are far from a consensus.

Sixty-one respondents indicated we should renovate the existing pool and 64 said we should not. Eighty-eight, though, said we should build a new community swimming pool, 42 thought we should not.

When it comes to paying for a new or renovated swimming pool, 132 hoped it would come from private donations, 127 from grants, 103 from taxes and 101 from user fees -- with only five indicating we should use sales tax revenue. Clearly the pool issue is one that should be thoroughly studied and debated, but not as a means of delaying action.

The survey does seem to indicate a need for more features aimed at young uses, such a zero-depth entry, splash pad and changing rooms, while continuing to serve stronger swimmers with diving boards and lap lanes.

We've written several times in support of building a skate park, second in the list of priorities favored by recreational survey respondents, and that project seems to be making headway, with a site approved in Kelley Park.

McCook is blessed to have a great recreational organization, the YMCA, that provides community exercise activities that the city would be hard-pressed to offer. Couple that with school and club sports, there should be a never-ending supply of residents with interest and ability to take part in physical activities of all types.

And, Kudos to MNB for continuing its Hot Summer Nights concert series, with Jim Salestrom performing last Thursday night, and "The Innocence" on stage this Thursday, 7 p.m., free to the public in Norris Park.

The recently renovated bandshell is an important community asset, and while it already gets a lot of use, wouldn't it be great to have regular, weekly summertime concerts featuring traditional community bands, garage bands and over-the-hill rockers who still want to share their love of music? The stage is ready, all we need now is someone to organize the schedule.

On second thought, maybe McCook does have all its recreational bases covered. It's up to the rest of us to get off the couch, get out there and run them.