Families looking for a place to hold events are welcome to rent one of three shelter houses in Washington Court House.
There is one shelter house located in each park within the city. This includes Christman Park located off South Elm Street, along with Eyman Park and Washington Park, which are both located off Eyman Park Drive. Washington Park is the side of Eyman Park Drive that contains the new Splash Pad.
Each shelter house can be rented for a full day for $30 at the City Service Department, 220 Park Ave. in Washington C.H.
For instance, “if you want it for this Saturday, we go down Friday night and we post a sign to let people know that this shelter house is rented,” explained Ron Sockman, city service director. “Then it’s yours all day Saturday or whatever day you want to rent it.”
To rent a shelter house, Sockman suggests first calling the service department to make sure the date desired for reservation is available. Once a date has been settled on, the renter is welcome to go to the service department and fill out the appropriate paperwork.
The paperwork doesn’t take long to fill out, according to Sockman. Payment of the $30 is due at the same time paperwork is submitted. It can be paid by exact cash or check — the department does not keep petty cash on hand so change cannot be given.
“A lot of times [the shelter houses are used] for family reunions. They’ll be some birthday parties occasionally, but when we talk with the people that come in, a lot of the time it’s a family reunion,” said Sockman.
Shelter houses can be rented year-around.
“If you’re having a reunion, depending on where you live in town, limited parking space is a restrain — like a driveway. The nice thing about the park is you’ve got ample parking,” said Sockman. “There’s a lot of things to do — there’s something for all ages. You can fish if you wanted to, use the splash pad if you wanted to, use the playground equipment, there’s kick ball, there’s a skate park, there’s basketball. But most of all, if you need parking for 20 or 30 people, parking’s going to be a lot easier.”
The service department can be reached at 740-636-2380.
Reach Jennifer Woods
