May 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 43

Parks Build Community-Once Again
Selena Butler Park is the second national " demonstration park " project under NRPA's Parks Build
Community (PBC) initiative. This initiative, which
began with support for the rebuilding of a deteriorated urban park in Washington, D.C., was intended
to demonstrate that safe, clean parks are critical to
any successful urban redevelopment program. PBC
was launched in 2009 as the rebuilding of Northeast
D.C.'s Marvin Gaye Park. The playground site at the
heart of the park was at one time a hub of drug activity-a place where nearby residents simply did
not feel safe. The September 2010 issue of Parks &
Recreation documented the Marvin Gaye project and
reported on its impact a year after the playground
project had been completed.
The goals of the Marvin Gaye Park project included strengthening the sense of community in surrounding neighborhoods, reinforcing school-park
connections, celebrating the park's unique communities, and improving the health of the park and local
residents. NRPA worked with the Washington, D.C.,
government, the nonprofit Washington Parks & People, George Mason University, and vendor partners
to clean up the area, install a state-of-the-art playground, and research the impact of the playground
on the community. It was the first public playground
the neighborhood had had in 30 years-and it was
designed to provide a safe, inclusive, fitness-promoting environment for urban minority youth.
" Urban parks replace the town square of yesterday, " says NRPA CEO Barbara Tulipane. " The Parks
Build Community initiative is based on the principle that good parks create a level playing field for all
community members. NRPA looks for parks where
we can make a difference-and document that difference. " And, indeed, a year after the transformation of Marvin Gaye Park, the GMU researchers
concluded that the park's revitalization had impacted
the community in dramatic ways. For example, the
number of visitors to the park skyrocketed, the number of youth involved in physical activity at the park
increased, attitudes of local residents toward their
own community changed positively, and, overall, as
GMU's Dr. Gary Kreps notes, " We found that the park
served as a form of community engagement and that
it really made a difference in the neighborhood. "
" The success of Marvin Gaye Park proved the
premise of the Parks Build Community initiative-
that it's about community as much as it is about what's
inside the boundaries of the park, " says NRPA public policy chief Rich Dolesh, who worked on the Marvin Gaye Park project. The choice of Atlanta for the
next replicable, sustainable demonstration park
was perfectly timed with NRPA's hosting of the 2011
Congress and Exposition. Through talks with Parks

Helene Mills

" Can't get to the new
without coming through
the old "
" I am over 80, I have been here
a lifetime, and I have always
been very, very involved in the
neighborhood, " says neighborhood activist Helene Mills by
way of introduction. " When I
was young I watched the things
that my parents were not permitted to do, and I decided that
if there is any issue that I am involved in, I am going to make
my voice heard. Boldly. "
Repeatedly, interviewees
for this story had mentioned
" our Ms. Mills, " when asked
about the history of the park
and neighborhood-and about who its longtime advocates have
been. Mills has lived in the Old Fourth Ward her entire life, and in the
mid-1990s she organized neighbors in a 501(c)(3) friends group to
take back their streets from drug dealers and squatters.
The park, named for local resident Selena Sloan Butler (18721964), one of the co-founders of the National PTA, was established
in 1966. But, according to Mills, it has never functioned as a safe, welcoming neighborhood park. " Whatever happens there, it will be an
improvement, " she says. " I am just hoping everyone involved will insist on including the senior adults. " She describes her ideal of a park
where seniors from the adjacent housing facility may bring their extended families for barbecues and games of horseshoes and hopscotch. And where older people who miss their front yards might
plant beds of flowers in the community garden area.
" Most of all, " she says, " I miss the neighborhood. I hear people say
they never see their neighbor. It used to be, we always knew each
other by name. I can't understand how you can get to the new without coming through the old. "
And for Helene Mills, " coming through the old " means-at least in
the case of Butler Park-using a safe, accessible public recreation
area to connect neighbors to one another. Sitting, talking, eating,
playing, and simply enjoying other people.

Commissioner Dusenbury and other city officials,
the damaged and fenced-off Selena Butler Park
was chosen as the site for the second PBC renewal
project.
" Selena Butler Park, " says Dolesh, " had exactly
the components NRPA was looking for-a deteriorated urban park, an underserved neighborhood,
incredible potential connections to the community,
and an enthusiastic partner in the city's Department
of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs. " NRPA
reached out to industry partners, and in response

www.NRPA .ORG

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May 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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