PRINT5 Things: About Columbia Parks
Park it with this 5 Things about our favorite recreation spaces
April 19, 2012 | 12:00 a.m. CST
THEM GOOD OL' BOYS DRINKIN' WHISKEY AND RYE
A whiskey distillery was operated in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park between the 1820s and early 1900s. At its peak, it was Missouri’s No. 2 distillery and generated about 5,000 barrels of whiskey a year, or 17 percent of the state’s whiskey production. Local prohibition laws shut down the factory. No more highballs in the park!
THE WORST LAWN-MOWING JOB EVER
The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department oversees more than 2,900 acres of land and 75 facilities. The largest park, Columbia Cosmopolitan Recreation Area or “Cosmo,” is a whopping 533 acres. That’s four times the size of the Magic Kingdom at Disney World.
TO THE BAT CAVE!
Every Columbia spelunker knows about the Devil’s Icebox, a cave in the middle of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. The cave stays 56 degrees all year; most caves maintain their temperature because the limestone insulates the underground area like a basement. Apparently that’s the perfect and only known climate for the pink planarian, a flat worm.
LOOK, A HAWK ... TONY HAWK
Columbia outlawed skateboarding on streets in the 1990s. Youths and parents protested the decision and teamed up with Parks and Recreation to construct a skate park. In 2009, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk did a few ollies at the park, and in November 2011, Columbia changed the ordinance to allow skateboarding on city streets.
LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL TREE UNIT
Not only is it a crime to immortalize your summer fling by carving “Joe + Kelly 4ever” into a tree, but it is also illegal to climb one. Don’t pick a flower for a loved one either; a citation from a park ranger will definitely cheapen the mood.
