Zoo fees

The park has been in the news a lot recently. Yesterday's surprise (to me) Sunday banner headline in the Commercial Appeal was a story taking the zoo to task for having fees that are too high. This doesn't affect my world too often, but it is awfully high to take a family unless you go often enough to get the annual pass.

The worst thing, from my point of view, is that not only does the zoo park on the Greensward at will, but they're allowed to keep the $5 fee per car for their general fund instead of giving that money back to the park. Above is a satellite photo of the Greensward last season, and even from that height, you can see the damage that the parking does. Any fees coming in from parking on the park should go to the park, and not to the zoo.

Hopefully the Conservancy will figure out a way to get them a garage soon. Hopefully they will also get an easement passed to protect the green spaces of the park and ensure that the zoo won't come back in 10 years and say that the parking garage is full and that they now need to park on the Greensward again. The zoo doesn't want to spend their own money on a garage, in spite of taking over so much park money through the years. Before we hand over a garage to the zoo, a permanent, legal contract (ideally protecting the rest of the green spaces of the park as well) needs to be in place banning them from ever using the Greensward as parking again. The zoo has said that they're in favor of such an easement and has been working with Park Friends on drafts for years now, and I hope the Conservancy will put their weight behind it as well.

Mowing the Grass

This week's Memphis Flyer has an article saying that the city parks department (sadly, no longer even its own department, in a recent and telling move by the mayor's office) will only be mowing parks every 32 days this coming summer. That's just less than once a month. People will be wading through calf-high grass for much of the summer in city parks. It looks like the Conservancy and its private grounds-keeping crew got here just in time (in spite of a little over-zealous leaf-blowing on occasion). We're lucky the park will look tended and be pleasant to walk through all summer.

Unfortunately, park maintenance is always the first thing cut when the budget gets tight, both locally and nationally.

Port-a-Potty in Lick Creek

view this morning looking down from the stone bridge at hole 2 over Lick Creek

This blog has been moribund for quite a while -- some pressing park issues kept me busy for all the time I could spare from working on my own career. However, today when former Park Friends board member (and current Overton Park Conservancy board member) Melanie White flagged me down to tell me that a port-a-potty was wedged under a bridge on the golf course, the photo op was too great a temptation. So I'll start trying to post some park news here again.

The port-a-potty washed into the creek from down in the golf course maintenance area. We periodically lose trash cans too close to the creek during flash floods, and yesterday's rain was a doozy. Several trees were down right around the bridge as well, so it hung up right under one of the old WPA stone bridges (the one between holes 2 and 3 of the golf course).

For the record, all that trash didn't originate in the park. Every time it rains hard, trash from upstream in Overton Square and other areas washes down the storm drains and ends up in the park.
Above is Lick Creek backed up because of the debris. Below, you can see that city parks crew was out there working on the problem first thing this morning. Department of Park Services continues to do great work in the park, even though the conservancy has taken over some responsibilities. I'm perpetually grateful to Larry Franks and his crew at DPS for all the time and attention they've given Overton Park over the years. They have a limited budget but are out there doing all they can whenever they're needed.

Security Alert

We've had several sightings this week of a tall, African-American man in his thirties wearing a red shirt. He's been following women alone in the park. He drifted after me on my walk Tuesday, but I was out in the public area, put on a spurt of speed, and got over into the zone with the MCA security guard, and he walked off in another direction. However, Thursday someone answering to that same description actively ran after a runner who was alone on the main running trail around the Old Forest (in the wooded section). She made it safely to the fire station, with the help of a passer by. I've heard of at least one more instance this week where someone of this description was watching/following women in the park.

Please keep your eyes open, your cell phone with you, and stay out in the public areas of the park if you are by yourself. Take a big dog with you if you can. Thursday we had 50 golfers play the course, now that it's open full time again. Hopefully this increased traffic in the park will provide security for everyone.

What we've been up to

For those of you (like me) who have had a flat out crazy spring and haven't had a chance to renew your membership yet. Here's why you should.

Dear Friends,

We at Park Friends miss you. We really appreciate your past support. In updating our membership roster we notice that you have not yet renewed your membership. This letter is to encourage you to do so.

Over the past year, the Park Friends board, members and volunteers have been working on the following things to benefit Overton Park and citizens living in its proximity:

---Park Friends aligned with other midtown groups in the Lick Creek Storm Water Coalition to find solutions for and to support the construction of a parking garage at Overton Square with water detention at that site. This site would greatly increase the effectiveness of the Lick Creek drainage and reduce the flooding experienced by people living in the Lick Creek basin.

---Park Friends Board President Martha Kelly and other board members have been part of the development of a Conservancy spearheaded by George Cates and Gary Shorb that we hope will bring considerable financial resources and renewed vigor to Overton Park.

---Park Friends hired an engineer to develop a plan to get the running trail in shape, and committed funds towards that. We have been awaiting approval by the Parks Department;

---Park Friends is actively working to obtain an easement for the entire park, which is needed to protect all of Overton Park, and which will complement the State Nature Area designation awarded to the Old Forest;

---Park Friends continues to maintain signage and fight kudzu in the Old Forest;

---Park Friends has facilitated several park clean ups, and held its annual Christmas party;

---Park Friends has kept our informational kiosks, situated at two key park entrances, stocked with maps and schedules;

---Park Friends volunteers again spearheaded the Junior Open Golf Tournament.

Please send us your membership contribution, and an extra contribution if you can. Enclosed is an envelope for your convenience.

Most importantly, please come volunteer with us! Overton Park is our city's treasure.

Sincerely,

Martha Kelly

President, Park Friends Board of Directors

Madison Ave. bike lane letter

Here's my letter to Mayor Wharton and Councilman Strickland. Sadly, protected bike lanes on Madison are in jeopardy because of a few vocal opponents. Please let your voice be heard if you'd like a safe way to bike in midtown and link up to Overton Park and the future Greenway that will be linking to the park. We need all the safety and connectivity we can get.

Dear Mayor Wharton and Councilman Strickland,

I'm distressed to hear that a few vocal opponents of bike lanes on Madison may ruin the project for the overwhelming number of both businesses and individuals who want it. I understand that we only have one chance to do this with federal funds, as we do routine repaving.

The Greenway has been a run-away hit, but it would be lovely to have protected, safe places to bicycle in the heart of the city as well. I dream of doing my grocery shopping by bicycle instead of car, but I don't feel safe in Memphis traffic. With a grocery coming to Overton Square (and building that parking garage with flood control is another piece of revitalizing a desperately needy Madison Ave.), I could live that dream. These bike lanes will also be a great connector with the Greenline and Overton Park once we get lanes on Cooper as well. Connectivity is the key to getting people safely around the city and improving both air and life quality in Memphis.

Simply putting up "Share the road" signs does nothing to protect cyclists. Please give us a few safe ways to get through the heart of the city. We're at a turning point for reinventing Memphis for pedestrians and cyclists and digging ourselves out of the bottom of every national quality-of-life and healthy living list. Please take this important step to keep moving in the right direction.

Bicycle lanes in no way are comparable to the disruption of the trolley (the main argument of opponents). There is not enough traffic on Madison to be halving numbers of cars simply because we're moving them over into one lane. In addition, as a car driver, I can tell you that adding the turn lane would be a huge plus for drivers.

Thank you both for moving us towards a more healthy city environment. Please continue to do so with bike lanes on Madison.

Sincerely, Martha Kelly

letter to members

We're going to be sending out more regular updates about news in our parks to members, and here's the first one that just went out. We'd love to have you join Park Friends and receive these updates directly.

POSITION ON PROPOSED EGGLESTON MUSEUM

As a member of Park Friends, you will be receiving brief, regular updates sharing information and requesting your input on things of importance to Overton Park. This first one concerns the proposed Eggleston Archive that is considering the General Services area in Overton as one of its several possible sites.

Mark Crosby, who is heading up the Archive effort, asked to come and speak to our board. We listened with interest, but have taken no official position.

What is your opinion?

We've heard from some Park Friends members already, and welcome your input on this or any other issue regarding our great parks.

Martha Kelly
President, Park Friends

Guest Editoral in the Commercial Appeal

The nonprofit group Park Friends was founded in 1992 to help maintain Overton Park and to oppose plans to pave several of its green spaces for parking. We have been advocates for protection of the park ever since. We have defeated several proposed developments and completed projects that include sprinklers for the formal gardens, signs for the Old Forest trail, ongoing maintenance and clean-ups.

And now Park Friends has a modest proposal for city of Memphis officials: a conservation easement that would cover all the public green spaces of the park. Such a move would not only protect the irreplaceable old-growth forest but also prevent further paving and construction in the remainder of the park.

There has been a lot of ink spilled lately about the merits of proposed legislation that would establish the forest as a state natural area, versus the conservation easement that city officials prefer. But an easement and the natural area legislation could easily co-exist. Several parks across the state, including Shelby Farms, have a state natural area -- where the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation enforces restrictions on development and usage -- paired with an easement that protects the overall park in a way that allows for recreational facilities but prohibits inappropriate development.

An easement can be as loose or as protective as the property owner chooses to make it, but its advantage is that it would be an appropriate vehicle to cover all of Overton Park instead of just the forest. It is time for Memphians to stand up and demand a comprehensive and tightly written easement that would protect the entire park for generations to come.

The nonprofit Land Trust for Tennessee, which holds the easement for Shelby Farms, has been consulted by the city and is currently writing its first draft of an Overton Park easement. The Land Trust would hold the easement and legally enforce, if necessary, all protections written into the final draft. If the full park is covered by the easement, future generations of city officials would not be allowed to sell off or over-build the park.

Unfortunately, however, even with the excellent example of Shelby Farms in front of them, the city's Division of Park Services requested a draft easement that covers only the forest. Not even the Greensward, the large field and gathering place by Rainbow Lake, is covered in this first draft. Park Friends has been urging the city for months to cover the whole park, and it is disappointing that city officials are so far ignoring this opportunity to protect the crown jewel of the Memphis park system.

Expanding protection to all of Overton Park is crucial because the city has had an abysmal track record of defending the park in the past. Do we need a fire station? Let's put it in Overton Park. A maintenance area? Sure, put it in the park. More parking? Let's pave over another field. A senior center? Why not? Cut down some trees. Parts of the forest have been eaten away, but the other areas of the park are regularly threatened as well.

Shelby Farms and the new Shelby Farms Greenline have been prominent in the news lately, and there is a growing consensus that parks and recreational facilities are crucial elements for the city's future. Professionals deciding whether to bring jobs to the city and young creative types who enrich a city immeasurably are all drawn to green spaces and recreational facilities. Shelby Farms has been rightly hailed as a treasure, but the grand, old, urban park of Memphis remains Overton Park. It contains much of our history as a city and is accessible to and integrated with the neighborhoods on all sides. This park deserves comprehensive protection, not just for its forest but also for its remaining open spaces.

The golf course has been continually threatened by city budget cuts. It is important to the life of the park, and Park Friends is fighting to keep it operational; but if we ever do lose it, I worry that a land grab for asphalt parking lots or a sell-off of frontage along Poplar Avenue will follow. There needs to be protection in place to maintain the integrity and beauty of this historic and irreplaceable park.

Mayor A C Wharton has made park issues one of his major platforms. I hope he will step up to the plate and give Memphians an easement that has tight protections for both the forest and the other public spaces in Overton Park. The park deserves it. Memphis deserves it. Our grandchildren deserve it.

Martha Kelly is a Memphis artist and president of Park Friends.

Outside Engineers

The national hydrology branch of Tetra Tech engineers recently held a public meeting to listen to the people of Midtown before they make their storm water recommendations to the city. The Flyer has an update about that meeting here.

If you couldn't make the meeting, you can still send them an email urging them to fix the flooding problem in Midtown without using the Greensward as storm water detention. That idea is not off the table yet, it's just been laying low for the last few months.

They'd like feedback by Friday, Dec. 3rd, and you can email them at lickcreek@tetratech.com

Thanks for taking the time to make a difference.

Maintenace Area Pondered

St. Jude wants to take over the downtown city/general services maintenance area near its campus, and the city is beginning to think about moving both it and the one in Overton Park to one consolidated location. The zoo has ideas about what might be a good use for that space. They want overflow parking first and foremost.

I think a better plan would be to have them build a garage (instead of continuing to add surface asphalt to the park) in their current staff parking/maintenance area, inside the current zoo footprint, and let them use a part of the maintenance area for greenhouses or whatever they need (provided they provide much more appropriate screening for other park users than they have been willing to along their other park boundary fences) and keep most of that area for park. Jimmy Jalenak of the zoo has been actively promoting this plan, but the tricky bit is finding funds for a parking garage (which is never as high on the zoo's list of priorities for its money as the new, sparkly exhibits).

The current masterplan has a second greensward in the Southeast corner of the park, and we need more free, open space in the park. Maybe we could put up soccer goals again, since the zoo never returned the ones to the Greensward that they removed for parking. Soccer was a highly popular activity until we lost the goals.

The CA has an article beginning the pubic debate. Let your voice be heard by the city!

Proposed Memphis Belle Memorial

A while ago the city administration signed a contract to allow the Memphis Belle Memorial Association to build a monument to the Belle adjacent to Veterans Plaza, between the Doughboy and the Korean memorial (at the zoo end). No park groups were consulted at that point, but I heard about it when they submitted their first design for review, and Parks Director Cindy Buchanan decided to form a review committee for Veterans Plaza in general, beginning with this project. It includes Cindy, me, Larry Franks (also DPS), Ritchie Smith, who designed the master plan for Overton Park, and John Weeden of Urban Art.

Their original proposal was a 40x20 foot concrete pad with a life-sized statue of Margaret Polk (the Belle herself) and a nine foot high granite "billboard" with information. We all felt that was too large, and they came back recently with the following proposal. It contains the life-sized bronze still, with a plaque that is laid back at a bit of an angle (unlike the current memorial plaques in the plaza), but it is still 4'2" high. The current ones are 5'5" high and feel far too high to me. They make something of a barrier to the views.

These are the drawings for the monument itself. They have proposed sidewalks on four sides, which would still mean a lot of concrete around it, but I hope we can reduce that.

The top drawing is the side view as you approach the monument from the plaza, walking past the Doughboy. You can see that the plaque is set at an angle, to be a little lower (if not a lot).

Below is the front of the monument, as seen directly from the plaza with the Greensward behind. The large bronze plaque will be a photo of the plane and crew.


This is the side view, seen from the zoo end of things.
There will be more historical information and a timeline in bronze on the back, facing the Greensward.

I am nervous about continuing to add things to Veterans Plaza, knowing that we also have two current wars underway and that the plaza is getting very full. We need to make sure that we don't get it too full (or worse, spill out into the rest of the park with such monuments), but it's a place that is very dear to the veterans of this community.

Anyway, here are the plans as they stand, and I thought it was time to at least get them out to be seen and have a public discussion if one is wanted. The Memphis Belle Association plans a groundbreaking at 11 am on Saturday, November 13th.

First Bicycle/Pedestrian coordinator for Memphis

Memphis has its first bicycle/pedestrian coordinator, finally, and I hope that smart growth and walkability will get more attention from the city now. Midtown needs a few north/south protected bike lanes to get people safely across Union/Poplar/Central.

The last time I asked one of the city engineers about a bike lane up Cooper all the way to Overton Park (they're planning one for further south, but they're not going to tie it in to the park), he responded that there is no sidewalk going in to the park from Cooper, and they didn't want to do a bike lane that far only to dump people on Poplar. That seems incredibly short-sighted to me, though I'm also frustrated that DPS has not taken the southern neighborhoods more into account for getting into the park. Lots of small areas funnel north to the park along Cooper, and there is no excuse not to have a sidewalk available there for strollers, kids' bikes, wheelchairs, etc.

Maybe the new coordinator can get that whole area properly taken care of.

Article on Memphis

Memphis, with a nice section on Overton Park and a tour around Midtown and Downtown, is the subject of this neat travel article in the Washington Post. It's about a new running tour of Memphis, for joggers who travel here and would like to see the city on foot. John Lintner, a Breakaway running employee (supporters of the park), and his wife Crissy started the company to help combat the image of Memphis as a fat, sedentary city. Good for them for highlighting our park and recreation side of things!

Flooding Meeting update

Here's a good update of the sanitary sewer meeting sponsored by the Lick Creek Coalition (including Park Friends) last night at Evergreen Presbyterian. This subject wasn't directly related to the storm water flooding that threatens the park (or the misguided solutions offered by the city so far do), but it's a related issue that is affecting various neighborhoods bordering the park. The coalition is working together (neighborhoods and park groups) to solve all the flooding issues in the Lick Creek basin.

The update came out with the Evergreen Historic District news today. Both Chris Morton and Bill Bullock of Evergreen were planners for the sanitary sewer meeting.

"Last night several dozen midtowners met at Evergreen Presbyterian Church to learn about plans for resolving the causes of sanitary sewer backups in basements during heavy rain events. Public Works Director Dwan Gillion was on hand with his staff to address issues. Also on the agenda was a representative of the Tennessee Clean Water Coalition, and a presentation of the data collected so far from affected Midtowners.

If you have had issues and filled out a survey, that information will be shared with Public Works to help them pinpoint the trouble areas and design and implement solutions. Public Works indicated they have been performing "smoke surveys" to locate breeches in the sanitary and storm sewers. If you have yet to fill out a survey, fill it out and send it in soon- it will presented to Public Works in a few days. To download a copy of the survey, click here.

Director Gilliom and staff indicated that the solution will require an assessment of the specific problems which they are doing now, the hiring of a consulting engineering firm to design the solutions, and then the implementation of those solutions which may include realigning existing pipe, lining existing pipe with a "cured in place" product, or replacing pipe. There was an indication that such fixes may take as long as two years from now.

Most evidence points to these issues being caused by breaches in storm and sanitary sewers in city owned right-of-way. However, Director Gilliom noted that some issues may be exacerbated by issues with a homeowner's service line - the sewer line from the road right-of-way into the house. He recommended making sure all clean-out caps in yards are in place. He also advised than any repairs to that line are the homeowner's responsibility. A clean-out cap is usually a 5 inch diameter metal or PVC threaded covering over a sewer pipe in your front, back or side yard. If it is missing, storm water or other foreign material can enter your service line."

Play Overton

The golf clubhouse is open for business, and it's not just for golfers. Overton is still lagging in rounds played and concessions sold, so please stop in to the clubhouse, have a soda or a beer, and sit on the lovely porch and watch the park go by for a few minutes.

We have several Park Friend members who are paying for a round of golf a week, whether they play or not. It's only $7 per round (another $7 to rent a cart), and only $4 a round if you're a senior.

You can also pick up one of our "Play Overton" stickers for your car.

The publicity about closing the golf course went away (for now), but we need to get the numbers up to keep making a strong case to the city council that Overton Park is an important course for the city to invest in and keep open.

There's a new foreman on the course who's been improving the greens and the roughs, so if you haven't played in a while, PLAY OVERTON and check it out!

Currently the course and clubhouse are open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but Park Friends and Councilman Kemp Conrad, who's taken an interest in the course, are encouraging DPS to give it a trial period of seven days a week for September and October. Audubon is closed for renovations, and the weather will break any time now, so it's a great time to test our numbers out at seven days a week.

Skatepark at Tobey!

Finally Memphis is joining the rest of the country and getting a skatepark. I'm glad to see our recreation reaching out to more youth. The skatepark will be in Tobey Park, near the fairgrounds, where the new dog park already is. It's nice to see Tobey get some attention and amenities, and hopefully it will continue to benefit from the fairground redevelopment. You can read the full CA article here.

Flyer article on Lick Creek

Halley Johnson wrote a nice overview article (with a great photo) on the Lick Creek issue and Jim Strickland's resolution to hire an outside engineer.

Photos from the Overton Park Junior Open

Board member Melanie White always is the Park Friends representative at the OPJO, one of the oldest youth golf tournaments in the country. Park Friends has helped sponsor it for several years now, and Melanie sent these photos in from this past week's play.

Emails needed before Tuesday!

Councilman Jim Strickland has proposed a resolution, passed in committee this past Tuesday, that would hire an outside expert in hydrology (no local engineers that we can find will go on record against the city engineers' Overton Park retention basin plan, since they all want to get contracts from the city) to survey the Midtown flooding and make recommendations. The city engineers are misrepresenting the 2006 study they commissioned and trying to do one large project in Overton Park instead of smaller projects all along the length of Lick Creek. We need an outside engineer to prove to the council that there are better and more effective solutions.

Please email the mayor and city council to let them know you support Jim Strickland's resolution. My letter is below. People present for the council meeting wearing park shirts Tuesday morning would also be very welcome.

Mayor@memphistn.gov, Bill.Morrison@memphistn.gov, Bill.Boyd@memphistn.gov, Harold.Collins@memphistn.gov, Wanda.Halbert@memphistn.gov, Jim.Strickland@memphistn.gov, Edmund.Fordjr@memphistn.gov, Swearengen.Ware@memphistn.gov, joe.brown@memphistn.gov, Janis.Fullilove@memphistn.gov, Myron.Lowery@memphistn.gov, Kemp.Conrad@memphistn.gov, Shea.Flinn@memphistn.gov, Reid.Hedgepeth@memphistn.gov


Dear Mayor Wharton,

I attended the council meeting this morning to support Councilman Strickland's resolution to have an outside engineering company that specializes in storm water issues do a study of the Lick Creek plan before proceeding with the city engineers' project.

I am the president of Park Friends and have been a member of the Lick Creek coalition from its beginning, and I have learned far more about storm water than I ever wanted to in my efforts to defend Overton Park from harm. The 2006 study by Oakley Ellers of the Lick Creek area concluded that detention in Overton Park will not help either Belleair or VECA, where the houses are flooding. They studied a smaller detention area than is currently being proposed by Director Gaskins, but they concluded it would not help.

The current proposal, which dumps a great deal more water in the park, has not been studied at all. Our coalition has tried to get local engineers to comment on the proposal, but all local engineers seem to be involved in city contracts one way or another, and no one will go on record about a plan proposed by the city office. We desperately need an outside, objective, expert opinion to weigh in on this major change to the park before we seriously consider it.

This plan may not help at all. The 2006 study said the only remedy was smaller detention basins up and down the length of Lick Creek. Your engineers have implemented only one of the study's recommendations as laid out, and it is not finished yet. Director Gaskins has been very unwilling to follow the study he himself commissioned and instead has come up with this one, huge, unstudied alternative that does harm to the park.

Please support Councilman Strickland as he tries to get an expert to take a look at our total drainage situation in Midtown before we do a large, irrevocable project with unknown consequences in an important and historic park.

Thank you for your support of our parks and green spaces.
Martha Kelly,
president, Park Friends

Old Forest Good for Health

The New York Times published an article saying that spending time in parks and forests can boost your white blood cells and lower your blood pressure, among other benefits. The Japanese have long recognized this benefit and go "forest bathing". It's also the coolest place to walk these hot days, so go ahead and reconnect to the Old Forest.