Baton Rouge Area Foundation Currents Magazine ? BREC ...

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Baton Rouge Area Foundation Currents Magazine

Letter from the Chair

There was a time when Baton Rouge?s parks were not exactly a point of pride for our city. Too often, BREC pinched pennies when it came to our greenspaces, neglecting them until they became too overgrown to be much good to anybody. But visit one of the city?s parks today and you?d never know it.

On most days, even hot ones, people flock to the parks. Children swing and slide at City Park, while down the hill dogs run around in a park of their own. Across town, BREC is putting the finishing touches on a major makeover for a dozen other parks, large and small, in various neighborhoods.

So the people of Baton Rouge should congratulate themselves for the blossoming of our park system here. After a public planning process known as ?Imagine Your Parks,? the people of our community passed new taxes in November 2004, investing in the upgrade of existing parks as well as the creation of new ones. Entrusted with $70 million for park operations, BREC kept up its end of the bargain by spending money wisely and without even a hint of waste.

Along with this, BREC is reaching out in a new spirit of collaboration. Seeking out partners, the parks system is coordinating its efforts with neighborhood groups to improve some vital public spaces. People in the community raise money, and BREC matches the amount for additional amenities, like playgrounds and pedestrian connections. That?s how Goodwood Park managed to spruce itself up so much, for example, and the same is happening at several others. You can read the story of this neighborhood philanthropy in this issue.

Philanthropy

Blue Cross foundation grants millions The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation has granted $10.2 million from its Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana program, which aims to reduce the rising obesity rate. One million dollars of the total was awarded to BREC for a bike and walking path between Siegen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard along Ward?s Creek.

Carolyn McKnight, BREC superintendent, says the pedestrian link will be the first in a network eventually built across the parish. Construction of the Ward?s Creek path has been planned for four years. McKnight says BREC will put up $1 million to match the Blue Cross grant to commence construction in fall.

With the path, BREC expects to convince the community?including potential opponents to paths near their homes?that a network linking waterways and parks is welcome and necessary. ?I would love to see us have a trail network in the parish that would help to not only ease the burden on the roadways and freeway system, but also let us get people out and active to stay healthy,? said McKnight. ?This path is a way for us to begin the idea.? Eventually, BREC wants to extend the path along the creek to The Burden Center at Bluebonnet Boulevard in one direction and Pecue Lane in the other.

Blue Cross? funding will pay for a mobile playground as well. The playground will roll to fields with games and equipment, such as balls and bats. ?That will help children stay healthy,? McKnight says. Blue Cross? foundation said 12 total grants would draw $16.8 million in matching funds from local governments and community organizations.

In the Capital Region, Fresh Beginnings received a $1 million Blue Cross grant to bring healthy foods to 61,000 residents in underserved areas of Baton Rouge (story on page 20). ?These 12 programs are precisely the kind of transformational, collaborative efforts that the Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana was designed for,? says Christy Reeves, director of the Blue Cross Foundation. ?The grants are enabling multiple organizations to combine their resources, working together at the community level to create environments that encourage healthy lifestyles.?

The Blue Cross Foundation will work with Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge to administer the grants and measure their effectiveness.

Fields of dream

Neighborhood groups are raising private funds to create dynamic public spaces

By Maggie Heyn Richardson

The popular Old Goodwood neighborhood in Baton Rouge is known for its central location, mature trees and family atmosphere. But lately, its hottest attribute is a newly restored park that attracts scores of runners, dog walkers, adults and children. Not long ago, the public park was in need of a facelift and was little used by residents; today, Goodwood Park is the place to be.

It features a covered pavilion for parties, new playground equipment, attractive trees and shrubs, a dog watering station, a tetherball pole and a jogging loop that connects to a neighborhood footpath. Residents hold all sorts of well attended events, including a recent outdoor family movie night, an art show and an evening of astronomy.

Completed in August 2011, the park restoration project was the result of a partnership between the Goodwood Property Owners Association and BREC, the parks and recreation authority for East Baton Rouge Parish. The neighborhood is one of several in the community and nation that have helped restore local parks by supplementing public funds with private fundraising.

Like all neighborhood parks in the parish, Goodwood Park had been slated for eventual improvement. But with so many smaller parks in need, many of them in low-income neighborhoods, it was low on the priority list. Moreover, the public funds allocated for Goodwood?s neighborhood park improvements wouldn?t have gone as far as neighbors here had hoped.

They wanted their park restored to higher level?one that would better accommodate the needs of 1,600 residents, many of them families with young children. And they wanted to connect the park to a pedestrian trail that had recently been established on nearby Seven Oaks Avenue, says Dennis Vidrine, president of the Goodwood Property Owners Association. ??The park was tired and needed to be restored, but we also felt it was important that it link up with the jogging path that had been built on Seven Oaks so that we could really create a sense of connectivity and community,? he said.

Vidrine and other members of the neighborhood association approached BREC Foundation Executive Director Carl Stages and BREC Assistant Superintendent of Planning, Operations and Resources Ted Jack about the possibility of the neighborhood working with BREC to raise additional funds. Stages and Jack embraced the opportunity.

BREC has worked for several years to improve local parks through a long-term planning process called Imagine Your Parks, initiated in 2004. But Imagine Your Parks? emphasis has been on renovating 12 larger, community parks that attract neighborhood residents as well as a wide swath of Baton Rougeans. About half have been completed to date.

The plan was less focused on neighborhood parks, so BREC administrators welcomed the chance to work with motivated residents in improving parks in their own backyards. The Goodwood Property Owners Association raised more than $60,000 in a combination of private funds and state funds that support the expansion of the walking trail.

Goodwood wasn?t the first neighborhood to approach BREC. The park system had already worked closely with neighbors around Leeward Park, who raised more than $22,000 to supplement public funds for their own park improvement. ?There were a bunch of us who went to the park regularly and we just decided to approach BREC to see if there was something we could do to improve it,? recalls resident Kathi Merey. ?The playground equipment was really outdated, there was sand but not playground turf, and we kept saying how great it would be for the families here if the park had better amenities.?

Merey and a core group of volunteers contacted BREC and learned that they could indeed raise their own funds to supplement the amount that had been allocated for Leeward. They began working with Jack on a plan. ?This type of thing is real beneficial,? said Jack. ?When we work with these groups, we usually get great ideas. They know what they need and what they think will really work.?

Stages adds that neighborhood partnerships are victories for the community. ?The BREC Foundation likes to participate in these projects because it gives the neighborhood ownership, and there is no doubt that it creates a better product,? he says.

Merey and other volunteers prepared fliers explaining the fundraising project, and collected ideas about what the park needed. Neighbors gave their feedback and invested in the project. Merey collected the donations and turned them over to the BREC Foundation, which handled the administrative and accounting functions. Residents installed a sign with a thermometer that measured the level of funds raised, and once they met their goal and completed the plan, construction started.

Today, Leeward is a magnet for neighborhood residents as well as other community members who are drawn to its family-friendly atmosphere. Old playground equipment was replaced with modern play structures that fit a range of ages. Benches now line each side of the triangular park, and updated fencing around the periphery keeps young children safely inside and away from the street. ?Everyone has just loved it,? says Merey. ?It?s attracting a lot of people.?

Elsewhere around Baton Rouge, neighborhood leaders have taken inspiration from Leeward?s success. ?We saw what had been done at Leeward, and we really wanted to have that same quality right here,? said Julie Perrault, a resident of Steele Place who helped launch Friends of Webb Park. ?We knew that eventually BREC would improve the park, but we wanted to be involved, and we wanted to make it as high quality as we could.?

The group met with BREC and began to prioritize the features it most wanted in the park. Jack prepared multiple sets of plans that demonstrated what could be accomplished with different final dollar amounts. Friends of Webb Park committed to a fundraising goal of $75,000 by Jan. 31, 2013. By July, the group had raised more than $46,000 and was confident about securing the balance. The group launched the fund drive by asking volunteers to participate in a canvassing day. More than 40 volunteers stepped forward and went door to door to explain the project and answer questions of their neighbors. ?People were very positive about it,? says Perrault. ?Most of them really?loved the idea of having a great park that they would actually use in their neighborhood.?

The plan for Webb Park is to remove and replace old playground equipment with structures that appeal to younger and older children, and convert a pool into an expansive lawn area with a covered pavilion for community events. The park will also include attractive landscaping and other features. Perrault believes that public parks have entered a new era in the Capital City. Larger, renovated recreational areas such as City Park and the Perkins Road Park have reminded residents that they can, and should, enjoy their local park system. ?I?m from Baton Rouge, but I didn?t grow up going to BREC parks,? says Perrault. ?But when they built City Park, I was shocked at how much my family and I use it. To have a park in our neighborhood will be a great way for even more of us to come together.?

The LSU-area neighborhood, College Town, has also embraced the idea of a public-private park partnership to improve its park on Amherst Avenue, says volunteer Gwen Graves. ?Our park has been in pretty bad shape. It?s certainly not the worst park in town, but we knew we?d be waiting years down the road to see improvements,? said Graves. ?When we heard about other neighborhoods doing this, we decided to jump on it.?

A year and half ago, Graves and other volunteers began explaining the project and encouraging neighbors to donate. They surveyed residents about their priorities for the park, and met with Jack about their options. ?We knew we wanted to keep it natural and open, and that we need new, safe equipment that was appropriate for children ages 2 to 5 and 5 and up,? says Graves. ?Many of our residents have used Leeward Park, so they knew how nice it could be.?

While a small percentage of residents questioned why they needed to invest in a publicly funded facility, most embraced the idea of a high-quality park nearby. Most residents, especially those with young families who search out great parks around town, understood the value, says Graves. Residents raised more than $62,000. Construction started in August and should be completed by the end of 2012. The neighborhood already has ideas about a second phase of work, which includes connecting the park to the adjacent Le Havre neighborhood.

Back in Goodwood Park, Vidrine says the neighborhood has felt more cohesive as a result of the park?s overhaul. Neighbors are outside more and they?re getting to know each other. The more they know each other, the more likely they are to watch out for crime, he adds. ?What we?ve been able to do is more than just rebuild a park,? he said. ?We?ve also rejuvenated our sense of community.

Source: http://www.brecfoundation.org/baton-rouge-area-foundation-currents-magazine/

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