Don’t give up on Karrer Park

Last week, the City of McCook announced the temporary closure of Karrer Park, a long-standing free camping area on the city’s east side, citing “public safety concerns” and visitor reports of unsettling behavior. While officials stopped short of confirming specific incidents, they did reference vandalism to restroom locks and other security measures, and acknowledged that the park has seen an increase in long-term occupancy by individuals who were not simply passing through.

On one hand, Karrer Park has been a premier service that has made visitors to McCook feel welcomed for decades. It has survived worse. In spite of a double homicide in 1990, city leaders recognized its value and kept it open.

It may be tempting to write off the current situation as a law enforcement problem—or a matter of simply drawing a harder line with park users. There may, however, be more at work here than a few rulebreakers.

Across the country, rural communities are quietly grappling with a form of homelessness that is far less visible than what we associate with urban encampments. Instead of tents along sidewalks, we see people sleeping in their cars, tucked behind gas stations, doubling up in small homes, or quietly occupying city parks.

It is homelessness all the same—driven by job loss, family breakdown and untreated mental health issues. Unlike urban areas, rural towns often lack the basic infrastructure to address it. There are no overnight shelters. No transitional housing. No easy way to get to a service provider in another county. The burden often falls on overextended police officers, school staff, and churches doing their best to help behind the scenes.

This is not unique to McCook, but it is in McCook now. It challenges us to ask what kind of community we want to be—not only for travelers passing through, but how we will address those who, for whatever reason, have nowhere else to go.

It would be a shame to let Karrer Park go the way of the petting zoo or the fountains in Barnett Park; the fire engine in Norris Park or the rocket in Kelley Park. These are all things that, for one reason or another, had to go. We hope that the service we offer at Karrer does not meet the same fate due to the misbehavior or misfortunes of a few.