Reviving 'Rocket Park'

(Photo by Russ Mitchell) Eric Johannsen, 35, Spencer, has used his Facebook page to generate interest in West Leach Park. He's like to see art festivals, outdoor movie screenings and frisbee golf events at the spacious park. [Order this photo]

Playground equipment companies would call the venerable rocket a liability issue.

"Especially when it comes to height, they get really scared," Spencer Parks Director Delray Bredehoeft said. "They don't tend to build things that big anymore."

As long as it remains safe and stable, the rocket is still grandfathered in to tower over the sometimes-swampy, riverside West Leach Park. That's the good news for residents who want generations of Spencer youth to climb spiral stairs for the next moon shot.

The bad news: The estimated three-decade-old piece is falling into disrepair. Paint has faded. Rust coats the metal bars. West Leach Park now has a green space focus, ideal for river access, kite-flying and frisbee golf. Families seeking playground equipment tend to migrate to a more elaborate set across the highway at East Leach Park.

Funding tends to migrate there, too. Bredehoeft concedes that a rocket slide refurbishment or removal remains low on the city's list of park budget priorities.

That's where Johannsen's Facebook group comes in.

The 35-year-old, who works for his father's construction company, tested a new camera by photographing the West Leach icon.

"I just joined Facebook at that time, so I was putting pictures up," he said. "After I put the pictures up a lot of people were commenting on them. A lot of memories were popping up. So, just for fun, I thought it would be nice to start my own group and gave it kind of a funny name -- a really long name that was kind of drawn out. I didn't think much of it."

About 330 people have since joined the "West Leach Park Rocket Slide Preservation Society."

"People kept joining and joining and the next thing I know, I had a full-fledged group," he said. "I had people contacting me through e-mails, talking about doing art fairs down here. A lot of people were worried that something was actually happening -- that they were planning on tearing it down, which was never the case. It just kind of grew as a fun idea."

Some members of the Facebook group have never been to Spencer - Johannsen said they just felt a kinship to his efforts because a rocket in their neighborhood park was torn down.

"After I did my research, I realized there were a lot of these rockets from the same era that were torn down in the last five years," he said. "There are a lot of liability reasons, so they'd come through in the middle of the night and tear them down because they know there would be an outrage if they knew it was going down."

Johannsen is worried about the prevailing rust on the playground piece. He wouldn't mind raising funds for a refurbishment effort. For now, he recommends contacting the Spencer Parks and Recreation Department for ways to help. Johannsen is reluctant to accept contributions until non-profit group can be formally established.

(Photo by Russ Mitchell) Eric Johannsen found unexpected support in his effort to see the rocket at West Leach Park restored. Many longtime Spencer residents still call the venue "Rocket Park" because of its iconic piece of playground equipment. [Order this photo]

Rocket enthusiasts also can go to Johannsen's Facebook page, to show support for the West Leach Park Rocket Slide Preservation Society.

"That's fairly aged equipment and I think that's something the park board is going to have to sit down and take a good look at," Bredehoeft said.

The Parks Director expects that status quo until the park board reviews the equipment as part of a five-year master plan.

"Right now, as far as I know, we're OK," he said. "I think we can probably look at it, because it is a popular piece. As long as you keep it where its at, I think you can get by with a lot of things that get grandfathered in, so to speak."

Movies in the park?

Efforts to save the rocket slide at West Leach Park is just one way Spencer resident Eric Johannsen is trying to generate fresh interest in the Spencer park system.

Pending city approval, he's working with Mark Carey of Carey's Electronics to hold family movie screenings at various Spencer park locations.

Johannsen plans to present his ideas at the July 14 Spencer Park Board meeting. If the concept remains on course he'll screen the first movie in late July or early August. "E.T." and "Back to the Future" have been mentioned as possibilities.

"The first one is going to be a 'go,'" from a financing standpoint, Johannsen said. "Any showing after that is going to be up in the air, because it is going to require a good chunk of change."

He's looking for sponsors for future "movies in the park" nights. He feels the effort is a way for people to get to know their community.

"I've seen a cultural diversity that's popping up, suddenly," he said. "People are really getting more involved in the arts."