October 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 16

WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION
munity as they performed the work
of creating this new space at no
cost to the city. They helped create
a new creek access point where
local response teams had to dam
the creek for recovery purposes, as
well as an outdoor classroom and
educational play area. In addition,
local businesses and organizations
partnered with Operation Pride
Inc., a local nonprofit focused on
beautification of our community,
to help restore the tree canopy
damaged by the storms. Many of
the newly planted trees were funded
by local companies like International
Paper and Tennessee Valley
Authority.
A Community Dreams
As part of what we like to call the
" Dream Phase " in bringing new
parks to our city, we hosted a community
event, inviting families to
share with us what they wanted to
see in this all-new playscape and
park. The event gave us the opportunity
to engage with our community
and allowed users to see how
they could enjoy the new space we
were creating.
National design firm MKSK is
bringing the vision for the playscape
to life and working on an overall
master plan for the Creekwood Greenway
at Jennings Creek, guiding
our development of this new park.
The master plan includes a boardwalk
trail that wanders off the main
greenway trail over a natural wetland
adjacent to a portion of Jennings
Creek. The boardwalk trail
will be in the direct path the tornado
took through the neighborhoods
and over this new park we are now
creating. To commemorate and represent
the lives lost in the storms,
our project team is envisioning an
art installation along the greenway
and boardwalk trail.
United Way of Southern Kentucky
was one of the many organizations
that was instrumental in
helping our community recover.
According to Debbie Hills, president
and CEO of United Way of
Southern Kentucky, " When the
devastating tornado hit our community
in December 2021, United Way
of Southern Kentucky immediately
leaped into action. With the launch
of the United Way of Southern
Kentucky Disaster Recovery Fund
the morning after the tornado, resources
began to be secured for the
massive work that lay ahead. From
the beginning, we had one goal...
to help restore our community and
to work with the victims of the disaster
to return them to a place that
was as good as, if not better than,
before. Our road to recovery took
more than two years...but in the
end that goal was achieved. "
In the spring of 2023, the project
team was connected with United
Way of Southern Kentucky. The
organization was looking to invest
tornado recovery funds they
had helped to raise in response to
the storms and helping us create
a place of peace and happiness in
this new park was the perfect fit.
" Through our partnership with the
city of Bowling Green in the tornado
recovery work, we were able to
connect with representatives from
parks and rec, public works and the
Bowling
Green-Warren
County
Planning Organization to discuss
an idea they had for a greenway/
natural playscape behind Jennings
Creek Elementary. One walk along
the beautiful path and understanding
the vision of what was to come
and we knew this was a perfect in16
Parks & Recreation | O CTOBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
vestment to accomplish our goals
and to change the landscape of the
neighborhood, " says Hills.
As of today, United Way of
Southern Kentucky has invested a
total of $493,500 in the Jennings
Creek Park project, specifically to
help create the natural playscape
and United Way-born learning trail
as part of our team's vision for the
space. The new playscape is slated
to be completed in the fall of 2024.
As the
three-year anniversary
of the tornadoes that changed our
community approaches, a dream is
coming to life. This project has become
a true representation of just
how unified, resilient and strong
Bowling Green and Warren County,
Kentucky, is. As park and recreation
professionals, we recognize
the powerful ways in which the
work we do impacts and enhances
quality of life for the communities
we serve. However, this project has
taught me more than I imagined
about the ways in which parks and
recreation can be a refuge in light
of life's hardest moments and bring
hope to a community in need of
healing. In the decades to come, it
is our hope that the new Jennings
Creek Park along the Creekwood
Greenway provides a ray of light
through the darkness that remains,
helping bring smiles to the faces of
all who play here and ensure they
are able to make positive memories
that last a lifetime in the park.
On land once ravaged and torn,
new memories are being made, beauty
has bloomed from the destruction,
and a park has been born.
Cameron Levis, CPRE, AFO, is
Recreation Division Manager, Parks and
Recreation at City of Bowling Green
(Kentucky) (cameron.levis@bgky.org).
October 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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