#GoodNewsFriday: Parks Coming to Life
Last year, I brought a Juneteenth weekend announcement that the City of Stamford was kicking off the planning for a much-needed renovation into Washington Park. Today, I want to share with you the work that has been done and the investment that is to come. A committee comprised of myself, city councilmembers Dawn Miller and Paul Wright, public works foreman Jeffrey Pippin, and community leaders Gwen Baker, Titania McGee, and Jeremy Stinnett has worked on a multitude of tasks to improve the park.
This starts with the City of Stamford investing into the park with regular maintenance, an improved mowing schedule, and pothole repairs on adjacent streets. Three new lots have expanded the park’s existing footprint. One lot inside the park was never actually owned by the City but it is now in the City’s name. Reclaiming Stamford cleared the adjacent lots of brush and an old trailer house and City employees have a new off-street parking lot (which Washington Park has sorely lacked). Walcott Enterprises assembled and installed a new chain climber and geodome climber for children to replace decades-old, unsafe equipment. A large slide and playset are being assembled. Equipment from the old kindergarten was supplied by Stamford ISD and refurbished by Stamford Paint & Body. It will soon be installed in the park (check out the sneak peak of the orange merry-go-round!) The City will add a soft surface around the play pieces as soon as the final pieces are installed. A new fence is in the planning stages and many more improvements will follow as funding is secured.
I have written a lot in the last year about the importance of city parks. This is why. Parks and green space give new energy to neighborhoods. They improve life for children and adults alike. In the next year, the City of Stamford will continue the improvements. Progress does not always move as fast as I’d like, but every single day, the City of Stamford is a little bit better than it was the day before!
“Good News Friday” is a weekly feature spotlighting positive news and activities in the #StamfordTexas community as a part of our quest to build a #BetterStamford.