‘Pokémon Go’ players take ownership of local parks

Now that the mobile game “Pokémon Go” has people going outside, it’s opened the eyes of many Merced players and motivated them to address the state of local parks.

A handful of Pokémon players equipped with gloves and trash bags trickled into Courthouse Park throughout Thursday morning and afternoon. The park’s trash cans were already overflowing with garbage, but the players filled bags with other litter that was scattered around the park.

“We know this is a public space in the middle of all the courthouses, and a lot of professionals are out here,” said Caleb Henke, a 25-year-old Merced resident. “People want to play the game and use this space, and we don’t want that privilege taken away or hindered. It’s a good gesture.”

The idea to pick up trash was pitched in a private Pokémon Go Merced Facebook group by Robert Kostecky, who noticed the litter in Courthouse Park after he began frequenting the Pokéstops there. On Thursday, he collected four bags of trash in the morning near the Veterans Memorial. In the afternoon, volunteers tackled the other side of the park.

Alvin Collier, another volunteer, said he didn’t visit the park often before the release of “Pokémon Go” on July 6. “It was pretty nasty,” he said.

Collier, like other Merced residents, said he associated the park’s dirtiness with the city’s homeless population.

Since “Pokémon Go” players began showing up in packs to the park, many of the transients who typically seek refuge at the park have gone elsewhere.

Kostecky said after work is done at Courthouse Park, he plans to go to Applegate Park, just a few blocks away off M Street, and pick up trash there. He also hopes to contact the Merced Police Department and report suspicious people who have been reported in the parks by the game players.

While the volunteers filled their bags, two city employees, Michelle Hoyt and Rosa Kindred-Winzer, applauded them, saying “Good job!”

The women visited the park to encourage Pokémon players to pop in to the Merced Civic Center, where City Hall is located, on 18th Street. The location is home to a Pokéstop, and savvy city employees posted signs on the sidewalks inviting players to step inside for a snack and to download the city’s new mobile app, Merced Connect.

“This game creates an opportunity to get our marketing out there,” Kindred-Winzer said. “We want to get millennials who are hooked and hope to get some foot traffic.”

Sarah Lim, the director of the Merced County Courthouse Museum, said she hasn’t seen Pokémon players visit the museum, but she’s glad people are using the park and taking care of it.

“It’s wonderful to see young people come outside during their summer and clean up the parks,” she said. “That’s what we like to see.”

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 7:25 AM with the headline "‘Pokémon Go’ players take ownership of local parks."