After years of neglect, parks, community centers getting serious makeover
After decades of shrinking investment and general decline, Memphis parks and community centers are on the verge of a “renaissance,” said Memphis Parks Director Nick Walker.
Nick Walker
The rebirth begins with smaller scale projects like the installation of splash pads, or water play areas, at city-owned public spaces in Orange Mound and North Memphis.
And it includes larger projects like the $4 million renovation of Gaston Community Center in South Memphis and the $8.4 million replacement of Ed Rice Community Center in Frayser.
In all, more than $139 million will be pumped into parks and community centers managed by several entities within the city, with funding coming from various sources over the next three years, an investment that will change the face of the city for years to come.
Welcome news
For Earnestine Fontenot, it couldn’t come soon enough. Walking around the track at Frayser park, as she does often when the weather is nice, she said she is looking forward to the completion of the new Ed Rice Community Center next door, which is due to be completed by the summer.
She’d also like to see Frayser Park get some improvements, especially the playground.
“The kids need something. I know they’ve the swings and things over there, but that’s not big enough,” she said. “They need something like monkey bars, back in the day that we had those; merry-go-rounds to get on and play; see-saws, to go up and down on, little things like that, to entice kids to come out and enjoy the park.”
Indeed, Frayser Park will be one of dozens of parks to receive much needed improvements after years of deferred maintenance, thanks to new funding. And part of the improvement plans for the city’s parks involves updating playgrounds, something that has been long overdue in most cases.
“Some of the work has already been laid,” Walker said. “But I think what people will see is that over the next two to three years, we will just continue to snowball, and it will grow.”
Best to worst
As recently as 1972, the Memphis parks system, then called the Memphis Parks Commission, was rated as the best large park system in the U.S. It was known for its long history of being a vital, thriving part of the city.
But over time, the system underwent a significant amount of disinvestment, with deferred maintenance piling up for its community centers, playgrounds, aquatic centers and sports fields.
In the early 2000s, under Mayor Willie Herenton’s administration, the system was renamed Memphis Parks Services. And new community centers were built, including Orange Mound Community Services Complex and Hickory Hill and Bert Ferguson Community Centers.
When AC Wharton became mayor of Memphis, the parks system was looped in with libraries and other city functions, and it was renamed the Division of Parks and Neighborhoods. In an October interview, Walker said this move “led to a rudderless ship at times.”
Under those two administrations, Walker said the average capital investment put forth by the city toward its parks and community centers averaged around $3 million to $5 million per year.
When the city came under Strickland’s direction, Walker noticed that the system began to turn back around, with closer to $10 million invested toward capital improvements each year. Currently, more than 20 improvement and construction projects are underway.
In addition to the 26 interactive spray toys, the splash pad plans include new features, like bike racks, a drinking fountain and a covered pavilion with picnic tables and seat benches. (Rendering courtesy of Vortex)
Master plan
In February 2021, after a year-and-a-half planning process, the city adopted its 2020 Master Parks Plan, which serves as a roadmap for changes made to the park system for the next 10 years.
Using input from community members, the master plan identified needs in the community, including upgrades to the park’s assets as well as the wish for more splash pads, more and better walking trails, better connections to other parks, and amenities such as wireless internet in parks and fitness rooms in community centers.
To pull these improvements off, city officials felt the parks system needed a refresh.
“As we were going through the master planning process, identifying ourselves as what we are became very important to us,” Walker said. “And establishing a brand that aligned with our vision was also important.”
The system was renamed “Memphis Parks,” which was part of a larger rebrand announced in October 2021 that included a new website that is much more appealing to the eye and much more user-friendly. Soon, citizens will be able to digitally register for classes, spring break camps and summer camps on the website.
Plans addressing the needs identified in the Master Parks Plan, as well as other wishes for the city, were detailed in a 20-year comprehensive development plan called Memphis 3.0.
Funding approved
For a financial boost for these projects, the city and state approved Accelerate Memphis, funded by a bond or balloon debt issuance, that pays for construction projects and deferred maintenance. Of the $200 million that was offered to the city for city-wide projects, parks were allotted $75 million.
Of that figure, $35 million will address deferred maintenance to aquatic facilities, parks, playgrounds, community and senior centers, golf courses and greenlines.
These projects can even include new construction, like splash pads at Hollywood Community Center and Orange Mound Park, the new Hospitality Hub Women’s Shelter and developments in Liberty Park.
Walker is perhaps most proud of the new Ed Rice Community Center, which replaces the former center that was built in the 1960s. It is an $8.4 million project and will have a basketball court with a stage for community activities, updated pool house with heated showers, three community meeting areas, art studio, workout room, fitness studio and computer lab. It is due to be completed by the summer.
“The old community center was nice, but I’m glad they’re doing the upgrades,” said Angela Phillips, who uses the facility.
Frayser, on the north side of Shelby County, was once a thriving suburb with a median income that was 110% of the area’s average, according to Frayser Community Development Corporation. But when the flight of the neighborhood’s industrial base occurred and its demographics changed, it underwent a significant amount of disinvestment. In 2019, the area’s median income was $37,507, around $6,000 below the city’s median income.
But the area is beginning to experience a bit of a resurgence, with a recent resident-led focus on revitalizing the area coupled with investments from the city, county and other government entities.
Green building
The city is hoping to make the building LEED certified, meaning it will have a green building system. In the gymnasium, architects will replace LED light with natural light by installing solar light tubes, reflective systems that use the sun to generate lighting in the space during the day, to mimic the look of LED bulbs.
Although Accelerate Memphis has provided a financial boost for the development of this community center, the concept and design process began long before the funding came, indicating a larger, strategic investment in the city, Walker said.
A new Gaisman Community Center in Berclair will replace the former structure that was built in the 1960s. The updated building will include two new soccer fields to reflect the uptick in interest from the new demographic. (Courtesy Memphis Parks)
“My very first day as Deputy Director of Parks for the City of Memphis (in 2018), we had a complaint about the condition of Ed Rice,” Walker said. “The building was in disrepair. It was well past its lifecycle and needed to be replaced. So when we open up the Ed Rice Community Center this summer, that’s going to be a real watershed moment for me. Anyone who’s familiar with the Frayser neighborhood knows how important Ed Rice Community Center is to that neighborhood and to that community.”
The other piece of the Accelerate Memphis funding is the $40 million dedicated toward new amenities or significant renovations to existing facilities, such as the purchase and demolition of the defunct Southwest Twin Drive-In in Westwood. It will be converted to a greenspace, which will require a $2 million investment from the city with a 100% match from the county.
Just like Ed Rice, a new Gaisman Community Center in Berclair will replace the former structure that was built in the 1960s. The surrounding park will receive two new soccer fields, showing an upward trend of soccer in certain parts of the city due to changing demographics. Walker expects as many as 24 more soccer fields to be built across the city within the next decade. In total, the Gaisman project will cost $9.1 million.
Good news for golfers
Another project Walker is particularly proud of is renovations and new developments made to Pine Hill Park and golf course in South Memphis. Following a $4.6 million investment, it will receive a new clubhouse, playground and picnic pavilion.
The rendering for The Links at Pine Hill. Following a $4.6 million investment, it will receive a new clubhouse, playground and picnic pavilion. (Courtesy Memphis Parks)
“I’m a terrible golfer,” Walker said. “I’m very bad at it. My golf folks tell me all the time that I should not be out on our golf courses. But my favorite golf course in the city of Memphis is Pine Hill. I think that it has views and angles and topography like we don’t have anywhere else in the city.
“It was similar to Ed Rice in that it needed an update, it needed a refresh. So for that to be the first golf course that we’ve done since 2000, when we redid Galloway. I’m really looking forward to being able to go out there and lose a bunch of golf balls and play a terrible round of golf.”
The goal is for all Accelerate Memphis projects to be completed by the end of 2023.
The next step in the renaissance in city-owned and managed parks is implementing programming that is “reflective of the community.”
Much of this will include increasing athletic classes and sports programming. In some existing facilities, the city will enhance the exercise equipment offerings that are available, which will be accessible with a nominal fee.
Currently, Hickory Hill is the only community center that has a gym. It measures 1,000-square-feet and has cardio and workout equipment “you would see in a private club.”
“What we’ve seen from other similar metro systems is a desire to make sure that at regional sites, there are fitness equipment rooms that match what you would see in the private sector,” Walker said. “We’re not necessarily looking at building a Germantown Athletic Club, where there’s a high monthly fee and an expectation of X, Y and Z. But more so along the lines of Hickory Hill.”
Improvements in local parks don’t necessarily come from Accelerate Memphis funding — or even from the city.
Federal funds
Some of the other ongoing projects in the city, like improvements at Rodney Baber and John F. Kennedy Parks, are federally funded by a Shelby County Resilience Grant supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In addition to addressing ongoing flooding issues and resulting damage, the grant provides the parks with new features like soccer fields, baseball diamonds, a fishing lake, security lights, additional parking and walking trails.
These projects are not entirely funded by the grant, with funding for a playground in Kennedy Park coming from the city and additional funds for both Kennedy and Rodney Baber Parks provided by the city and county.
Other parks that are not managed by the city, like Overton Park, Shelby Farms Park (owned by the county) and Tom Lee Park —all of which have been renovated or are in the process of being renovated — can also be considered part of the larger parks renaissance, Walker said.
With help from the city, Overton Park Conservancy is renovating its golf course, roughly a $2 million project, and it is making repairs to the roads within the park.
Memphis River Parks Partnership’s Tom Lee Park is undergoing a $62 million redesign with funding from the city, county, state and private institutions. It will have play areas, a large civic canopy and landscaping with hills, vegetation and meditative paths.
“My bosses are really big fans of saying that parks, right now, are a growth industry,” Walker said. “And it’s true. … It’s all interconnected. I think a lot of people see these things in a vacuum. And really, they’re all a part of the same renaissance.”
As for Phillips from Frayser, she’s pleased to see the progress being made.
“I think it’s good,” she said. “If it’s gonna’ be something to upgrade the community, I don’t see nothing wrong with it.”
Topics
Memphis parks Nick Walker Memphis 3.0 Master Parks Plan city of MemphisJulia Baker
A lifelong Memphian, Julia Baker graduated from the University of Memphis in 2021. Other publications and organizations she has written for include Chalkbeat, Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent magazine and Memphis magazine.
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