November 11 – The ribbon is cut and the $3.1 million Commons project is now officially open to the public. The project was a joint effort led by both the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation and the City of Washington.
Currently, the building that houses The Commons with its pavilions and stage is owned by the DCEDC, but this is expected to change before the end of the month.
“The city attorney is working on the title change. It’s some paperwork that both parties have to sign. We hope to have that done very soon. Maybe by November 19th,” Washington Mayor David Rhoads said. “We are tying up some loose ends. The donor and sponsor signs are ready and we need to pick them up.”
Once ownership is transferred, the Washington Parks Department will formally take over maintenance and operation of The Commons. With that acquisition in mind, the city has already moved forward with some updates.
“We’re doing everything pretty well. We’re getting things ready so the parks department can take care of it when we take over,” Rhoads said. “We’ve done some extra work on the bathrooms. We’ve installed the camera system so it’s on par with what we have at all our other parks. We’re doing the little things.”
“It’s going to be something new for us to manage. I’m looking forward to it,” said Washington Parks Superintendent Kip Kelley. “We know the public is really interested in using it. It will be a rentable space and if someone wants to use part of it for a wedding reception, they can rent that space. They can use the pavilions and the bandstand .just like any other rental space the city has.”
The big difference will be that this is a newly developed area in the heart of downtown Washington. Keeping The Commons in good condition will be a big part of the parks department’s mission. That includes limiting vandalism and graffiti.
“We’re not really concerned. It’s a lot like all the other parks that are wide open,” Kelley said. “We have video surveillance at all our parks. We will have 17 cameras on The Commons. If we do encounter vandalism, we must be able to see who is doing it. If we catch someone, there is usually no additional vandalism because we are an example to them.”
Now that The Commons is open, Washington will enter the holiday season with a striking brand new facility to showcase the annual Christmas Parade and other events.
“We are going to arrange a number of things in The Commons around the holidays. We haven’t fully worked them out yet,” Rhoads said. “It’s exciting. We now have a green space where we can bring people downtown and we’ll be holding a lot of different events there in the coming years.”
Kelley says the parks department looks forward to making the most of downtown in the future.
“I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a new area where we can enjoy downtown and Daviess County as a whole and have more events,” he said.
People wishing to reserve any of the facilities in the Commons can contact the Washington Parks Department at 812-254-6010.
