The director of Oregon's state parks will temporarily close Holman State Wayside while the department seeks solutions to a long history of public sex crimes being committed there. Assistant director Dave Wright said that state park administrators have been weighing options since the Polk County Sheriff's Department arrested eight men, including teachers, on charges of public indecency in a sting in May.
"For the past 30 or 40 years, the park has suffered from an unusually high level of public sexual activity," Wright wrote in a statement that will be read to the commission today at a meeting in Florence of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission. "Polk County reports for the past 12 months alone show the sheriff dispatched patrols to the park at least 92 times, and 19 escalated into investigations, arrests or other actions. They report that most of the offenses are drug-related or sexual in nature."
The closure will be effective as soon as practical, pending coordination with Polk County and the Oregon Department of Transportation, Wright said. The park is about four miles west of Salem on Highway 22.
The closure, imposed by state parks director Tim Wood, will prevent traffic from entering the parking lot, and the park restroom will be closed.
The closure will be in effect no more than 12 months, and in the coming six months the operations staff for state parks will develop options for a permanent solution, Wright said. Those options, once decided, will be presented to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission for approval.
Wood's decision to close the park temporarily does not require action by the commission. He will, however, be at today's meeting to answer questions.
Wright said solutions could range from a permanent closure of the park to selling the park.
A priority in any solution, he said, will be keeping the paved bikeway through the park open. It is owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation.
(statesmanjournal.com)
