The jumping off discussion area for the rest of the Deck. All things Lakewood.
Please check out our other sections. As we refile many discussions from the past into
their proper sections please check them out and offer suggestions.
Michael Fleenor wrote:The Friends of Madison Park will be meeting this Thursday, June 12th from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lower Level Meeting Room of the Madison branch library. We will be talking about upcoming projects and fundraising. Please join us!
Michael,
Have any particular projects been envisioned that you could discuss prior to the meeting?
“One of they key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace. Good people don’t go into government.”- 45
The Friends had a Design Charrette on April 26th and we had a great group of very engaged participants--folks who live in the neighborhood, folks who grew up in the neighborhood but now live elsewhere, and folks who live in other parts of Lakewood, but use Madison Park or Library. The charrette was facilitated by myself and David Reed, a Lakewood resident who is on the staff of the Kent State Urban Design Collaborative.
We started out by looking at what exists at Madison Park now and at other parks that might serve as a model of what we would like to create. Then we went out and walked the park and talked about things we like, don't like, and opportunities for the future.
The ideas generated were to create more of a "gateway" to the park by landscaping the edge of the parking lot and removing some chain-link fence by the snack area of the pool; "greening" the perimeter by planting trees along the edge where various fence types delineate the back yards of neighboring houses; creating a reading garden between the pool and library as an entrance to the playground; replacing the picnic pavilion with one closer to the south parking lot, overlooking the soccer field; creating a community garden south of Usher Field; improving pathways around the park; having fewer but better tennis courts; and remodeling the old skate house as a meeting facility with a stage area that could be seen from the soccer field.
We also generated a number if ideas for short-term projects. At the meeting we will talk about these and about fundraising. If anyone has fundraising ideas, please post them or e-mail them to me.
KaBOOM is an organization that offers funding and materials for constructing playgrounds. Goodrich-Gannett Neighborhood Center on E.55th and St. Clair in Cleveland constructed a playground with funds from KaBOOM and volunteers from around the neighborhood.
It was an exciting project and really galvanized the folks within the neighborhood. There are many other funding opportunities for our parks. You can visit KaBOOM at http://www.kaboom.org/.
Thanks. I was aware of Kaboom! and I am looking into that organization. The City has already funded the much needed playground replacement. The Friends group is actually working more on additional play equipment and other park amenities, like trails, park furniture, and remodeling the skate house. So, Kabooms model of the "community-built adventure playground" may not work for us. They do have great organizational and fundraising suggestions that we will utilize, though. Thanks for the suggestion.
