The Knoxville Parks and Recreation Department is reminding the community of park etiquette this summer.

Park season is in full swing for the summer in Knoxville and the parks are meant to be enjoyed by the public, but also there are many ways community members can do their part to follow guidelines and keep them clean. Parks in Knoxville are open 5:00 am – 10:00 pm, which is when bathrooms will be open as well. The parks and rec department wants everyone to make sure they are utilizing trash cans on the property to keep the parks clean. 

New last year for the parks department was the splash pad in Veterans Park, which is now open for the season as well. Rules for the splash pad include no food or drinks on the splash pad surface, no glass containers, no running on the splash pad, no scooters or bikes on the surface, and toddlers who are not potty trained need to wear a swim diaper. The splash pad is open 9:00 am – 9:00 pm and the water can be activated by pushing the button on the blue post. Parks and Recreation Director Brandon Nemmers says his department also occasionally deals with vandalism in parks, and he says if someone sees something, report it.

“We just ask that people find those trash cans. If you wash your hands please throw away those paper towels. It takes us extra time and we are pulling sticks out of toilets and doing all kinds of crazy stuff. We appreciate everyone’s patronage but we want people to do the right thing. If you see vandalism report it to the police, we just painted the floor of a cement shelter at Auld Park because we had quite a bit of vandalism there so that is something that every community deals with but we just ask if you see something, say something.”

Hear more from Nemmers on an upcoming Let’s Talk Knoxville.