by Walkerasaurus
A while back I wrote an article about what was happening in Sonny Lawson Park. At the time it was closed off for “remodeling.” The reason given for spending over $450,000 on the project was to beautify the park and to somehow make it more appealing to the local neighborhood. There was some concern that the park was heavily frequented by local homeless people and not being used by the other residents in the area as well. The spin was all about “integrating use” in a very diverse neighborhood. There was discussion that the park would reopen as a place that was more inviting with more community style events allowing better mixing to occur. The park reopened in early June.
The additions to the park included some exercise equipment, the kind you would find along a running trail with stations for sit ups, pull ups and some balancing and stretching kinds of exercises. Also added were Ping-Pong® tables, a very nice new playground for children and some additional tables for picnicking and games like chess or dominoes. At the same time another nearby park--Triangle Park--was also closed for remodeling.
The infamous Triangle Park was notorious for drug trafficking. Triangle Park has not reopened. Now that Sonny Lawson has, guess who has entered into the mix that was not there before--the very element the frequent users of Sonny Lawson in the past were hoping to avoid. Folks who thought they were going to be able to push out the unsavory element that was not there to any significant degree before wound up inviting them in. This new element, however, is only a small part of what is currently happening in Sonny Lawson Park. It has retained much of the character it had before it was closed for “remodeling.” A half a million dollars was spent to change very little. That being said, a local farmer’s market opens on Saturdays and is frequented by the community. There is some light use of the exercise equipment and some light use of the playground. But in the end nothing much has changed.
So who benefited from the project? Local leaders will tell you quickly just how much public money was spent on the project. As if that makes it a success. Well, maybe for the builders it is beautiful, but it was before. In the end half a million dollars of public money has been spent with very little impact. Where else could that money have been spent? There is still not an accessible public bathroom the park, which has always been a need. At least then there would be some public infrastructure as part of the improvements.
The additions to the park included some exercise equipment, the kind you would find along a running trail with stations for sit ups, pull ups and some balancing and stretching kinds of exercises. Also added were Ping-Pong® tables, a very nice new playground for children and some additional tables for picnicking and games like chess or dominoes. At the same time another nearby park--Triangle Park--was also closed for remodeling.
The infamous Triangle Park was notorious for drug trafficking. Triangle Park has not reopened. Now that Sonny Lawson has, guess who has entered into the mix that was not there before--the very element the frequent users of Sonny Lawson in the past were hoping to avoid. Folks who thought they were going to be able to push out the unsavory element that was not there to any significant degree before wound up inviting them in. This new element, however, is only a small part of what is currently happening in Sonny Lawson Park. It has retained much of the character it had before it was closed for “remodeling.” A half a million dollars was spent to change very little. That being said, a local farmer’s market opens on Saturdays and is frequented by the community. There is some light use of the exercise equipment and some light use of the playground. But in the end nothing much has changed.
So who benefited from the project? Local leaders will tell you quickly just how much public money was spent on the project. As if that makes it a success. Well, maybe for the builders it is beautiful, but it was before. In the end half a million dollars of public money has been spent with very little impact. Where else could that money have been spent? There is still not an accessible public bathroom the park, which has always been a need. At least then there would be some public infrastructure as part of the improvements.
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