InTucker Magazine

Ask Rip – July 2018

“Ask Rip” Answers to Your Parks Questions 

Rip Robertson is the first Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Tucker. He takes the job with years of experience in Parks and Rec, as well as Public Works. Rip is a former Military Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Army and is active with the Army Reserve.

In preparing for this column each month, we reach out for questions from the community. This time 

around there was one question it seems was on everyone’s mind: when will the splash pad open at Kelley Cofer Park pool? To be honest, I’ve asked that same question myself several times.

Here’s the deal: we had anticipated having this splash pad open for kids to enjoy when we opened the pool on Memorial Day weekend. DeKalb County had contractors onsite to pour some concrete and install the drainage. Then they hit a bad stretch of weather that delayed construction. Then they had issues with availability of the fixtures for the splash pad.

And here we are. The County now has those fixtures and is ready to complete the project sometime this month. It’s not as quick as we had hoped, but your kids will be able to play in a brand new, 400 square foot splash pad during the Summer of 2018. We’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Finally, I want to let you know that as we enter the final month of our Summer Camp, it has been a huge success. When we assumed responsibility of Tucker Recreation Center back in January, we almost immediately started planning for Summer Camp. This is a huge undertaking, not just making sure that campers are having a good time, but making sure those campers’ parents have peace of mind that their kids are safe. Our Recreation Leaders Crystal Dawson and Joe Stewart used their expertise in working with children to make sure our promises of “fun” and “safety” were kept. I truly believe that if you have a quality program with quality people, word will spread and you will find success. That’s exactly what’s happened.

The last week of June we had 134 campers. That is up from the 94 campers we started with back in May and getting close to our capacity of 150 campers. In addition to our Tucker Rec Center staff, I have to give a lot of credit to our partners at the YMCA. We’ve had a few minor hiccups, but the feedback we’ve gotten for you has been so encouraging. We will review every piece of feedback – positive or negative – and retool for an even better Summer Camp in 2019. Oh, and don’t forget, we’ve still got a few openings for campers as we wind down over the next month!