October 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 14

WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION
Parks and Recreation as Refuge
The healing power of a local park
By Cameron Levis, CPRE, AFO
B
Families from nearby
neighborhoods and
local schools gathered
to share what they
wanted to see in the
new playscape and
park along the Creekwood
Greenway at
the Down at the Creek
community event in
August 2023.
owling Green, Kentucky, is a vibrant and growing community located
in the southern part of the Bluegrass state. It is the third largest
city in Kentucky and is currently the fastest growing, projected to
reach nearly 100,000 residents by the year 2030. Those of us tasked
with serving our community recognize the need to preserve our natural areas
as the city grows so that we can continue to bring beneficial and impactful park
and recreation opportunities to those who call Bowling Green home.
In January 2021, myself and a
team of colleagues from multiple
city departments were introduced
to a new section of greenway while
helping plan an event to signify its
grand opening. We fell in love with
the natural beauty of the small area
and could imagine the possibilities
and impact the space could have as
a new park. In addition, community
members in this particular area
were positioned to benefit greatly
from a new park and positive investment.
Located adjacent to the
greenway are two schools, as well
as a multitude of subdivisions and
multifamily housing units. Jennings
Creek Elementary, one of the
neighboring schools, is one of the
most diverse in the state of Kentucky.
According to its principal,
Dr. Cody Rich, " We serve a student
population [that more than] 90 percent
[receive] free/reduced [price]
lunch. We also have students from
over 30 countries who speak more
than 30 languages (not including dialects).
We serve a relatively small
geographic area but it is very densely
populated. Additionally, we have
many students who are refugees
from numerous countries. "
Karissa Lemon, metropolitan
planning
organization
coordinator
for the City-County Planning
Commission, and I began developing
a vision for what this potential
park could be; an escape from our
growing city that encouraged our
community to connect, explore
and play with nature in the middle
of an increasingly urban area.
Disaster Strikes
Although the
vision
sat on our
desks for most of the year, that all
changed on the morning of December
11, 2021. Our community
was struck with multiple tornadoes,
including an EF3 that cut through
the neighborhood adjacent to the
greenway, tearing through a portion
of the trail while crossing neighbor14
Parks & Recreation | O CTOBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
hoods. There was loss of life, hundreds
injured and even more people
displaced. The elementary school
became the main shelter for the
Red Cross and other local response
teams. I remember walking into the
shelter for the first time seeing the
hurt, trauma and disbelief on everyone's
faces. The community we love
was changed forever.
In light of this natural disaster,
our dream for a park along Jennings
Creek now had an additional,
more immediate purpose. How
could this park project be a part of
our response to the storms and help
restore hope to our community?
Together as One
The strength of our community
was evident in the ways people, organizations
and businesses helped
their neighbors, and the story of our
project has been a shining example
of just this. In spring 2022, our local
Rotary Clubs reached out with the
opportunity to use Regional Disaster
Relief grant funding for creek restoration
and remediation, as well as
laying the foundation for an outdoor
classroom for the adjacent elementary
school. Another partner, Western
Kentucky University's
Center
for
Human GeoEnvironmental Studies,
also received similar grant money
from another local Rotary Club that
brought our total project funding to
$40,000, and progress could now begin
on the new park.
Local
construction
company
Scotty's Contracting and Stone
proved the generosity of our comPHOTO
BY GRACE RAMEY, BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
October 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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