BATTLE CREEK – Irving Park has long served as an urban oasis in Battle Creek’s historic Northside neighborhood.

Situated near North Avenue and Emmett Street, across from the campuses of Bronson Battle Creek Hospital and Kellogg Community College, the park is known largely for the variety of waterfowl that dominate its ponds, walking paths and an 18-hole disc golf course.

A new outdoor fitness playground disturbed the natural balance last week, when it was installed thanks to a neighborhood enhancement program grant to the nonprofit Southwestern Michigan Urban League.

Some members of the disc golf community − the largest group that uses the park − raised some noise about not being consulted or invited to give input on the placement of the equipment near tee pads for holes 8, 9, 10 and 17.

“We were shocked this would happen,” said Chad Curtis, who helped design and install the disc golf course more than a decade ago. “It is not directly between any of the holes. Working with our original information – people saying it would impact four or five holes – it was going to be a huge production, but it has a much smaller footprint.”

City officials paid attention to what Curtis and other disc golfers had to say.

The installation of the disc golf course was a grass-roots effort that Curtis said cost approximately $50,000 and countless volunteer hours. The course is free to play and can be used 365 days a year, with a Sunday 10 a.m. league playing every week since its opening.

When the course was opened in 2009, the Battle Creek Disc Golf Association drafted an agreement with the Battle Creek Parks and Recreation Department to help maintain and promote the park, giving them permission to host special events such as fundraisers. However, the document was never signed by anyone from the city or the association.

Irving Park has long had a bird problem. Here’s how the park can return to its former glory