Wildwood Park a nighttime hangout for drug, alcohol use

Wildwood Park

A 20-second walk up a side trail in Wildwood Park near downtown Saratoga leads visitors into an area enclosed in shrubbery, one that is littered with Coors Light cans. Secluded by a ring of tall trees, the park is known among students as a prime location for drug and alcohol usage late at night.

One drug user, a student who wished to remain anonymous, said it is common for older students to smoke and drink in an area just behind the park.

Bought by the city in 1968 and renovated three years later for a total of $142,000, Wildwood spans four acres and is rated 4.5/5 on yelp.com by users. Many expressed positive experiences involving nearby restaurants and the versatile playground.

However, a few local shop owners have also noticed that the park frequently attracts drug users. In the center of Saratoga’s downtown, Maryann Serpa’s gift shop, Skin Prophecy Boutique, overlooks Wildwood Park. She is always on alert, she said, for suspicious characters.

“Have I seen actual drug abuse [at Wildwood Park]? No,” Serpa said. “Do I know that it exists? Yes. Do I see the police turning the corner here all the time? Absolutely. Have I seen people come up the hill that look like drug dealers? No question, there’s no question in my mind.”

Although a sign near the entrance to Wildwood prominently proclaims that tobacco is not allowed, a visit to the park revealed dozens of cigarette butts litter the ground right next to the sign and numerous empty beer cans in a obscured clearing among the trees at the back of the park.

The sign also clearly states that no one is allowed in the park after sunset, yet local residents frequently hear the ruckus of partying and yelling well past midnight.

“There’s a lot of laughing and yelling, and it’s not scary or anything, but they sound under the influence, like they’re having a good time,” said resident Bonnie Wright, mother of freshman Mackenzie Rosenthal, who has lived near the park for 15 years. “Just the fact that they’re there [after dark] and for different reasons is alarming.”

In response, neighbors have taken to calling sheriff’s office every time they hear a disturbance after dark, which can happen as often as once a week during the summer months, according to Wright.

“When the weather’s really nice in the summertime, we definitely get more [noise],” said Wright. “We and the other neighbors have to call [the sheriff] a lot. The sheriff is very responsive, though; they come out every time and make sure everything is OK.”

Sophomore Jack Ryan’s family, also residents of the surrounding neighborhood, called the sheriff just a few weeks ago when they woke up to terrified screaming coming from the park at 3 a.m.

“I thought it was pretty sketchy. It made me feel uneasy, like something was definitely wrong,” Ryan said. “The sheriff’s deputy came and told us they’d found the person screaming, but they didn’t tell us what happened.”

Though a central part of the community and a child-friendly park during the daytime, Wildwood makes people feel unsafe and hesitant to enter during the night. In daylight hours numerous children play on the playground and in surrounding grassy area while other residents hold barbecues and picnics. Once the sun has gone down, however, residents are reluctant to spend time in the area, according to Serpa.

“Partly what makes the community uncomfortable is the way the park is positioned,” Serpa said. “It sits back on the creek and [residents] get a little nervous about walking down there.”

“You sort of feel like if something happened down there, no one would know it. I left my car down there because of a [dead] battery at night in the winter and that’s when I went ‘no way am I parking down there ever again.’ There’s light, but there’s not enough light, not enough to make one feel safe.”

Other local residents and downtown shop owners claim to never have seen or heard anything about drug activity or partying at Wildwood Park.

“I don’t know what the reality [of the drug situation] is, but I’ve never seen kids having too much fun or doing drugs,” said Kaywan Mansubi, a resident who lives just down the street from the park.

Even though not all surrounding neighbors have been affected by the nighttime culture in the park, it’s clear that the child-friendly atmosphere of the park that exists by day can sometimes give way to illegal activities at night.