The City of Fort Scott told residents Friday afternoon that it will not remove the people living in tents at 2nd Street Park unless they break the law.
In a statement posted to the city’s Facebook page and signed by City Manager Brad Matkin, the city acknowledged “several individuals staying in tents at the park” and said it is aware of “concerns and reports regarding fires in the area.” It asked residents to report illegal activity to law enforcement at 620-223-1700 and emergencies to 911. Short of that, its position is explicit: “we will not remove homeless individuals from staying at 2nd street unless their actions deem necessary.”
The city has already advised people not to camp in the downtown area, Gunn Park or Riverfront Park, the statement said. It also said the city is “working toward creating” a local alliance of organizations, churches, service providers, law enforcement, businesses and residents to look for longer-term answers. Matkin asked anyone willing to take part to email him at [email protected].
Where 2nd Street Park is
The park is also known as Bridal Veil Park. The two names refer to the same property, and the city commission has used them interchangeably for at least a decade — its March 2016 minutes say “2nd Street (Bridal Veil) Park,” and its October 2017 minutes say “Bridal Veil Park/2nd Street Park.”
Napp’s Park, the spring and the pools
It began as Napp’s Park in the 1880s. “It had a large artesian water well in the southeast corner of the park,” local historian Fred Campbell told FortScott.biz in 2017. “As the water shot up about 20-30 feet from the spring, it looked like a bridal veil.”
The park later held two community swimming pools, one for girls and one for boys. In 1936 the Works Progress Administration built a new pool at the Main Street site. “At that point, the (Bridal Veil Park) swimming pools were turned over to the African-American community,” historian Don Miller said. “Segregation was the law until 1954.” After desegregation the pools were filled in.
A flood swept the brick shelter house away in 1986. “After that, it was used for a hang-out place,” Miller said. “There was a lot of illegal activities going on.” What remains is three WPA-built concrete picnic tables, a pavilion, a rock wall, tree stumps and a dirt road.
The city spent years weighing a sale
On March 22, 2016, commissioners voted 4-1 to let the city manager investigate whether selling “2nd Street (Bridal Veil) Park” was feasible. City Manager Dave Martin said at the time that he knew “there is a lot of history with this park and emotions tied to it.”
He reported back on Oct. 17, 2017. The park cost the city $5,000 to $10,000 a year in gravel and cleanup, he said, it floods, it was “not well used,” and there was “quite a bit of police activity there.” He was unsure the WPA picnic tables, pavilion and rock wall could be moved without damaging them. The sale, he told commissioners, would not be about the budget but about whether the city has more parks than it needs.
Martin also said he wanted to keep an easement across the property for a long-hoped-for trail connection between Gunn Park and Riverfront Park. By July 2018 the city manager was still telling commissioners the city was “moving forward with the possible sale.” No completed sale appears in the city’s records, and the city’s statement Friday still treats the park as its own.
In between, in December 2015, four Fort Scott High School students — Gabrielle Allen, Olivia Houston, Austin Bolinger and Morgan Stoughton, working under teacher Amber Toth — presented the City Council a renovation proposal for the park: a playground, a quarter-mile walking trail, 14 trees, picnic tables, benches and new lighting, priced at $74,841. It is still online, and it argued the park was worth keeping because it “is the only park around that part of town,” in a low-income neighborhood where children could walk to it.
What has already been tried
In 2017, the renovated Western Insurance building downtown opened as Western Senior Living with 35 apartments, one of them designated for a homeless or transitional individual for a maximum of two years.
In December 2021, a volunteer group called Warming Hearts — Tonya Cliffman, Anne Dare and Sarah Maike — planned two insulated 4-by-6-foot sleeping pods at about $1,000 apiece, and the commission approved placing them on private land north of Community Christian Church on the condition they came out by March 31. It is not clear whether the pods were ever put into use.
This July, FortScott.biz reported on Frankie’s Mission, started by Vickie Crowe of Fort Scott in memory of her son, who was homeless when he died. It hands out food, hygiene items and clothing — but holds its dinners in Pittsburg, Crowe said, because she could not find a place in Fort Scott for one.
Two city decisions this summer
On June 2, Matkin asked commissioners to close a gap in the Gunn Park camping rules. A 14-day permit could be cycled indefinitely by leaving for a day or moving to another site, he said, so someone had “the opportunity to stay at Gunn Park” without limit. The camping areas get “pretty busy down there” in the summer months, he told commissioners. The resulting ordinance requires campers to stay out for 30 days once a permit expires. (Watch that discussion.)
On July 13, commissioners held a special meeting on a Continuum of Care grant of nearly $1.6 million that would have converted the former convent at 810 S. Burke St. into transitional housing, a project called BridgePoint Community. Matkin read a prepared statement opposing it — not transitional housing itself, he said, but the city owning and operating it. Grant money would cover buying and renovating the building, but “those funds are temporary,” he said, and afterward the cost of running, staffing and maintaining it “could ultimately fall on the city and its taxpayers.” (Watch the statement.)
Commissioners voted to decline the grant. Commissioner Tracy Dancer said the proposal “felt rushed” and that he did not have enough information. Mayor Kathryn Salsbury said she lacked information about the building’s title and questioned its condition, and Commissioner Tim Van Hoecke said that as a first step it “would have been more like a gigantic leap.” Commissioners also raised the building’s location near an elementary school and Gunn Park. Salsbury said it was not “the right time, the right place, the right building, the right program, but we need to keep working and we need to keep helping.”
During public comment, Jenni Simhiser of the Path of EASE Association, which runs a recovery house for women and children, said she had no room left. “I’m getting ready to couch a girl. I am overly full and I have a waiting list,” she said.
Afterward, Commissioner Matthew Wells said the first step of his seven-step plan was to form a local coalition of the city, churches, nonprofits, schools and health providers, meeting monthly “at a minimum.” “If we don’t have a plan, then it only gets worse,” he said, and offered to organize it himself if no one at the city would. (Watch those comments.)
The city’s statement, in full
A Message to the Citizens of Fort Scott Regarding 2nd Street Park
Citizens of Fort Scott,
The City of Fort Scott is aware of the current situation at 2nd Street Park, including several individuals staying in tents at the park. We are also aware of concerns and reports regarding fires in the area.
Any active fire or situation that presents an immediate threat to public safety should be reported to local authorities immediately.
We understand the frustration and concern this situation may cause for residents, businesses, and those who use our public spaces. At the same time, this is not as simple as asking individuals to leave one location where there is no appropriate place to direct them.
Moving someone from one park to another does not solve the underlying problem; it simply moves the problem somewhere else. We also do not want to direct individuals into locations where they may create additional problems or place themselves or others in unsafe situations.
The City has advised individuals against “Camping” in the downtown area, Gunn Park, and Riverfront Park. These are among our most heavily traveled and utilized public areas, and allowing long-term “camping” in these locations creates concerns for residents, visitors, businesses, recreational users, and the individuals themselves. Our goal is to protect our public spaces while approaching this difficult issue responsibly.
It is also important to remember that the individuals involved are human beings and have legal rights. Homelessness is an extremely complicated issue, and there is no single solution. Communities throughout the country continue to struggle with this same challenge. Enforcement alone will not solve homelessness, just as compassion without accountability will not solve the concerns being experienced in our community. We must find a responsible balance between helping people in need and maintaining safe, clean, and accessible public spaces for everyone.
The City of Fort Scott is working toward creating a local alliance of community organizations, churches, service providers, law enforcement, businesses, concerned citizens, and others who are willing to work together to identify realistic solutions.
Our goal is not simply to relocate individuals from one location to another. We want to determine what resources are available and what can realistically be done to help individuals move toward stable housing, employment, treatment, family assistance, or other services appropriate to their circumstances. We recognize that this will not be an easy or immediate process.
If you witness illegal activity at 2nd Street Park or any other location, please contact local law enforcement at 620-223-1700. Law enforcement will respond and address the situation appropriately. For emergencies or situations involving an immediate threat to life or property, please call 911. *Please note, we will not remove homeless individuals from staying at 2nd street* unless their actions deem necessary.
If no illegal activity is occurring, we ask for patience as the City and the proposed Alliance Group work to find a responsible path forward. We understand that citizens expect their parks and public spaces to be safe, clean, and available for everyone, and we share that expectation. At the same time, we want to address this issue in a way that is lawful, humane, and focused on finding solutions rather than simply moving the problem from one part of Fort Scott to another.
We need our community’s help. If you would like to participate in this alliance, represent an organization that may be able to provide assistance, or have constructive ideas for addressing homelessness in Fort Scott, please send your ideas and comments to [email protected].
This is a community issue that will require a community response. We may not have all the answers today, but we are committed to working together to find practical solutions while protecting both the dignity of individuals and the quality of life in Fort Scott.
There is also a positive side to this challenge: Fort Scott has always been a community that steps up when help is needed. We have caring citizens, churches, organizations, businesses, law enforcement officers, and community leaders who want to make Fort Scott a better place. I believe that if we bring those people together, listen to one another, and focus on solutions rather than blame, we can make progress.
We may not solve homelessness overnight, and we may not be able to help every individual immediately, but that does not mean we should stop trying. Sometimes success begins with helping one person find housing, helping another find a job, reconnecting someone with family, or connecting someone with the services they need. Every success matters.
Fort Scott is a community that cares about its people and takes pride in its neighborhoods, parks, businesses, and public spaces. I am confident that we can show compassion while still maintaining accountability and protecting our community.
Working together, I believe we can make a difference—not just by moving a problem somewhere else, but by helping create a path toward a better future for the individuals involved and for Fort Scott as a whole.
Thank you for your patience, your understanding, and most importantly, your willingness to be part of the solution.
Brad Matkin
City Manager
City of Fort Scott
The statement was posted to the City of Fort Scott’s Facebook page at 3:06 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. The asterisks in the paragraph about not removing individuals are in the city’s original post.