EXTRA, EXTRA/Parks become part of wireless world
King County, Wash., and Richmond, Va., join a throng of other local governments establishing wireless hotspots in their jurisdictions. In June, King County launched a 170-acre hotspot in Marymoor Park and sold the first year of naming rights to Redmond, Wash.-based MSN. With an 802.11 Ethernet card-equipped computer, anyone can access the free wireless Internet network. Visitors can log on to the network at the park’s sports fields, the Group Health Velodrome, Subway restaurant and concert venue.
At Monroe Park in Richmond, Va., the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities and the Monroe Park Advisory Council have built a hotspot. The city’s oldest park is now the most updated; along with the new wireless network, the city has just completed restoring the park. “What this does is extend the public’s living room and office into the park,” says Mike Rohde, who helped implement the project.