October 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 28

Who, What, Where & how Around the Parks

HOW WE DID IT

Taking Back Bayou View Park
How a Gulfport mom led her community in rebuilding
its hurricane-ravaged park and playground.

After Katrina
I live about two blocks from Bayou View
Park. After Katrina, I walked past the
park every day-really just to get out
and see what had happened all around
me. My home had very little damage,
but for two blocks in every direction
there was at least four feet of water in my
neighbors' homes. And the park was destroyed. Over 140 trees had fallen, and
the playground equipment was crushed.
It wasn't the best park to begin with, but
still-it was at least a park. And it is bordered by two elementary schools and a

26 Parks & Recreation

OCTOBER 2 0 1 0

Andi Oustalet says the rebuilding of Bayou View Park was not a luxury, but a
necessity so her community could feel whole again after Hurricane Katrina.

daycare, not to mention numerous residences. As I continued to walk past the
park over the months that followed, I
noticed that nothing was being done to
clean up the mess-and, gradually beer
bottles, condoms, and trash were overtaking this place that had the potential to
be beautiful. I kept wondering...when is
somebody going to do something?
I started asking questions about when
the park would be fixed-and I was told
that the city was overwhelmed with infrastructure problems, and park fix-ups
would be a long time in coming. I also
learned that the Junior Auxiliary of Gulfport had secured $25,000 from the local

www . N R P A . O R G

Coca-Cola bottling company to assist
with the purchase of playground equipment. No one was willing to take on the
project, though, because most of the
people of Gulfport were struggling with
rebuilding their own homes and lives.
I decided to approach the city and see
whether I might be able to put that money to work to rebuild Bayou View Park.
But first, I invited some neighbors and
friends to a meeting at my house-and
we got busy.

Getting to Work
Our first thought was to engage the few
local businesses around the park. There

Jean Allsopp

ntil recently, there wasn't
much good to see in a Gulfport, Mississippi, neighborhood park ravaged by
Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Fallen trees, mangled equipment, and
accumulating detritus made the park
an eyesore, and for the longest time, it
seemed as though the community would
never see it return to normal. That's when
a concerned resident stepped in and mobilized her community to take action.
Today, it's a fully equipped, beautifully landscaped gem of a playground and
picnic area. It took Andi Oustalet and other Gulfport residents two years to make
the dream of restoring Bayou View Park
a reality. It wasn't long before the media
began taking notice, and most recently Better Homes & Garden magazine devoted the last page of its August issue to
Oustalet's efforts. Parks & Recreation was
curious to learn how Oustalet's experience could translate into action for other
communities. In this interview, she shares
her motivation, strategies, and advice for
others wishing to take on a neighborhood
park project.

October 2010 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2010 - Parks & Recreation