ALTON - Michael Haynes, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Alton, has been in a critical role since the sinkhole situation developed at the soccer fields at Gordon Moore Park.
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Haynes has been highly involved in moving or canceling events at the park that occur soon or early in the fall. He also fully recognizes the legacy of Dr. Gordon Moore and the others who helped build the beautiful Alton park.
Haynes likened the situation to crisis management during a national disaster, noting the unexpected nature of the event and the need to adapt quickly despite limited information. "If anything changes on the status of the park, we will get it on our Facebook page, and to the media," he assured.
The parks and rec director said many in the community have been frustrated with a lack of information coming out about the sinkhole.
Haynes explained: "We haven’t had a lot of information provided from those doing the investigation. Something happened out of our control that takes investigating. We are waiting on words from others to tell us the road map of what is happening from the investigation."
"We know this is hard on the Spencer T. Olin Golf Course, the River Dragons and all the people and children who use the park during the summer," he said. "We will do everything we can to support them. It’s still very early in finding out what happened and when we can use the facilities again."
Discussions are ongoing about potentially relocating some programs to the north side of Illinois Route 140, along with mapping out other soccer activities and creating temporary homes for various activities.
Marquette Catholic is already working to reschedule matches from the soccer field this fall. Haynes has offered some assistance to the Marquette Catholic athletic director in this situation.
"Obviously, it’s disappointing," Haynes said of the park closure. "We are glad no one got hurt when the sinkhole collapsed. It would be a whole different situation if everybody weren’t OK."
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