Krug Park — Attraction in Saint Joseph

Yesterday we drove up to St Joseph from Kansas City on a nice day to find a new place to walk. My wife's family used to hold their reunion picnics there when she was a child and she had fond memories of the park, including two giant slides that used to go down a hillside. However, our visit there yesterday was very disappointing. The park is so rundown, with overgrown bushes on paths, and much of the pond is covered in algae/plant growth. One of the walkways going up to the amphitheater is blocked by kudzu, and many of the stairs on the various structures are broken and crumbling, and the buildings are boarded up and locked, and not maintained. Very sad given what it was like in the beginning when looking up it's history. It appears that it has suffered from a lot of vandalism and lack of maintenance. And it does not appear as if it would be a safe place to be after dark. There are broken and missing gliders, and a non-functioning waterfall. The city really needs to invest in restoring this once...

Didn't go to Krug Park. I don't go anymore. Since the 1970's the City has allowed what was beautiful and worthwhile in the Park fall into disrepair. They decided to forego landscaping, gardens, stonework, and trellises, letting them degrade in favor of silly gimmicks like a lame mini-zoo and hotdog joint in the Castle. Going to that Park on a Sunday afternoon was the single most important thing to me as a kid. But the City stopped policing it effectively, and stopped maintaining it properly. It's a disgrace what it's become. Where do we spend our tax money? Not on beauty. Not on legacy. Krug Park is a perfect example of how the leadership in this city has overlooked the kinds of investments that made Saint Joseph a great place to live 50 years ago. Look around. Everything that was once beautiful, regal, stately, has been allowed to rot. Yeah, the 80's sucked & most heavy industry moved away, but that was 40 years ago. Saint Joseph tax policy hasn't made...

I lived in the Krug Mansion, at 1123 Krug Park Place when I was a kid, moving away in 1966 when I was 9 or 10. I have wonderful memories of all of the places we played. Right across the street was what we called the "Lily Pond". We played and swam there (I'm sure we weren't supposed to, but we did) almost daily during the summer time. JustJust up the hill was a rather sharp curve, known as "Dead Man's Curve". Beyond that was the Duck Pond- with plenty of stories about ice skating on there, too. The different playgrounds, the swings with opposing seats at the very top of what we called the "First playground". The extra long slides at what we called the "Second playground". If you'd like to discuss this grand place with me or share stories, look me up on facebook and identify yourself as "Krug Park". Have a wonderful day. Lance...