Mobile's Parks Getting Makeovers

Jul 27th, 2004

The City of Mobile takes great pride in its parks. They are an essential part of the quality of life for people who live in Mobile. Parks are a place for adults and children to relax or play, while enjoying all the beautiful sites. Thanks to many community volunteers, public and private donations, Mobile's Parks are getting a lot of attention and some much needed renovations.

The Your P.A.R.K. Project is one of the newest efforts in Mobile to tackle a city park. The committee has big plans for the Public Safety Memorial Park located at 2301 Airport Blvd. Members hope to revitalize the park to make it a special place for families to picnic and play. But, they also plan to build a memorial at the site to remind everyone of the sacrifices made by Mobile's police and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Volunteers have already raised more than $95-thousand of the $250-thousand needed for improvements. Recently, the Mobile Tree Commission donated $2-thousand to purchase trees for the park. According to Mobile City Council President Reggie Copeland, "A park like this, is long overdue. We've had the land, but until now, we haven't been able to develop it into the kind of park that will attract families and pay tribute to our public safety employees at the same time. I really applaud these volunteers for their dedication."

Improvements will be made in phases beginning with restrooms and the park's fountain. Plans include adding playground equipment, benches and picnic tables and renovating an existing gazebo. The Public Safety Memorial Park/Your P.A.R.K. project has a midtown volunteer program for people interested in improving the image of the community and Public Safety Memorial Park. Volunteers will be involved in many areas including fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer coordination and fieldwork. Anyone interested can check out the website for an application at www.yourparkproject.org.

Public Safety Memorial Park is just one of Mobile's parks undergoing a facelift. Major renovations at Lavretta Park, off Old Shell Road, west of Bit and Spur turned an old, tired city park with deteriorating playground equipment into an exciting place for children to play on brand new, state of the art equipment. This summer, volunteers and people who live in the community marked the one year anniversary of renovations to Lavretta Park.

Kellie Myers started a non-profit organization called Park Project08 to help raise money for improvements at Lavretta Park In two years volunteers collected $125-thousand for a new playground, a walking trail that circles the park, a misting machine and additional restroom facilities. Since the park straddles two City Council districts, Council President Copeland and former District 7 Councilman Stephen Nodine provided financial assistance from the city.

Myers says plans are underway now to provide a shade system for the park. "The playground gets so hot that it's sometimes hard to slide or play on the equipment. It really heats up, but we are going to fix that." Myers credits Nodine with more than the $100-thousand from the city. She says he helped guide her group of volunteers through the entire renovation process, which according to Myers, can be "pretty daunting".

Lagan Park on Ziegler Blvd. and Tricentennial Park on Three Mile Creek are also in line for "makeovers". Langan Park will soon be home to what is called a boundless playground. The Alabama District of Kiwanis Club International is spearheading the drive to build the unique playground. According to the Immediate Past Governor of Alabama's District Kiwanis International, Karla Moons, "A Boundless Playground is a playground for every child. These playgrounds benefit children with and without disabilities by providing opportunities for all children to play together side-by-side instead of being separated."

The playground will provide three different areas for children of all ages and disabilities. The first will be the alpha section where early childhood development behaviors will be experienced. This area will be primarily for children ages 2-5 . Alpha will have slides, sand play areas, toddler swings and balance beams.

The second area will be the Beta section which is typically for older children ranging in age from 3-to-7. More rigorous and challenging equipment, such as climbers will be in the Beta section, along with a little house with play panels for pretending and sand and water tables for learning.

The third section will be Gamma-- typically for older children, 5-12 years old. Six and eight foot slides that include transfer points will be highlights of the Gamma section. There will be a platform with a series of steps to allow children in wheelchairs to move up a series of platforms to access playground equipment. That will allow these children to leave their mobility equipment behind.

Construction of the new Boundless Playground is expected to begin in August. "Our first build will be August 20-22. We will be putting up equipment unless there is a hurricane," Moons said. The new Boundless Playground will celebrate with a grand opening November 7, 2004 to coordinate with the Children's Services Fair.

Mobile City Councilman Fred Richardson, who represents District 1 is looking forward to improvements at Tri-Centennial Park. According to Richardson, "This is the first park built in Mobile for passive use, and that means no ball fields. It's a park just for families and individuals. There are parks all over the city with ball fields, but this is the first park simply to let parents and children enjoy the playgrounds or the beautiful scenery.

"Phase one of the master plan to establish Tricentennial Park and create a lake is complete. Now work is underway in phase two that includes landscaping, building a group picnic pavilion, walking trails, a parking area, and even a misting machine to keep everyone cool when it's hot.. Phase two should be finished within six months. And as Richardson likes to say, "This is just the beginning - get ready Mobile."

City of Mobile
Angela Gibbons
publicrelationsoffice@cityofmobile.org
208-7816
July 27, 2004