Opinion ID: 2637569
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Was the Maintenance of Thorpe Park a Governmental Function?

Text: ¶ 19 At the time Arizona's Constitution was written, the common-law rule was that there is no municipal liability for negligence in connection with public buildings or other property used exclusively for public purposes and from which no income is received. McQuillin, supra ¶ 10, § 2672. ¶ 20 The cases cited in McQuillin suggest that in determining whether the maintenance of a public park is a governmental function, courts should examine whether the government charges an admission fee or otherwise derives revenue from the use of the park and whether the park is held open to all. See id. § 2678 (citing, among other cases, Russell v. City of Tacoma, 8 Wash. 156, 35 P. 605, 606-07 (1894)). In those cases in which maintenance of parks has been found to be a proprietary function, the government usually leased the park or otherwise generated revenue from its use, a typically proprietary action. See Russell, 35 P. at 606. ¶ 21 Although the case is more than 100 years old, the Russell court's analysis reflects the analysis courts applied in that era and still apply to distinguish park operations that are governmental from those that are not. See id. at 606-07. When the city receives no revenue and the park is available to all citizens, the operation and maintenance has been held to be a governmental function, while limiting access to the park or generating revenue from it has led courts to conclude that the government was operating the park in a proprietary manner. Id.; see also Board of Park Comm'rs of City of Louisville v. Prinz, 127 Ky. 460, 105 S.W. 948 (Ct.App. 1907) (holding that a municipality was not liable for injury in a city park that was held open to the general public and from which the city received no revenue, but noting that the city might be liable if the city restricted access or gained revenue from use of the park); Bisbing v. City of Asbury Park, 80 N.J.L. 416, 78 A. 196 (Err. & App.1910) (same); cf. City of Denver v. Spencer, 34 Colo. 270, 82 P. 590 (1905) (holding city liable for an injury suffered on park bleachers when the city received revenue from licensing the sale of beverages at the park). ¶ 22 In this case, the City of Flagstaff did not charge an admission fee or otherwise derive revenue from the public's use of Thorpe Park. As did the City of Tacoma in the Russell case, Flagstaff obtained the land that is now Thorpe Park from the federal government on the stipulation that it be used as a public park. The Park is so used and is open to all who come there, not just to the residents of Flagstaff. Indeed, the Petitioners themselves were residents of Prescott, not Flagstaff. These factors lead us to conclude that the operation and maintenance of Thorpe Park at the time William was injured were governmental in nature. ¶ 23 In sum, we conclude that the City holds Thorpe Park open to the public for recreational use. Its maintenance of the Park is a governmental function; as such, the Government's acts are shielded by the recreational use statute. Because the City's stewardship of the Park was governmental in nature, the City would have been immune at common law from tort liability for acts of ordinary negligence arising from its maintenance of the Park. Therefore, we hold that because Petitioners would have had no action when the anti-abrogation provision was adopted, the limited immunity afforded to the City of Flagstaff by the recreational use statute did not wrongfully abrogate Petitioners' right to sue the City for negligence.