To: 

Mayor Karl Dean 

Mr. Billy Fields, Director, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods 

Mr. Tommy Lynch, Interim Director, Metro Board of Parks and Recreation 

Ms. Ivanetta Davis Samuels, Chairperson 

Mr. Stan Fossick, Vice-Chairperson 

Mr. Charles McTorry 

Mr. James Lawson 

Mr. George Anderson 

Ms. Kay Simmons 

Ms. Tonya Jones 

Mr. Jason Holleman, District 24 Councilperson 

Date: April 5, 2011 

 

Re: Older Children's Swings for Woodmont Park 

 

We, friends and users of Woodmont Park, would like to do all we can to improve our neighborhood, the health of our children and the community as a whole. We are regular users of Woodmont Park, and enjoy its accessibility, intimate scale and the facilities it offers, particularly for very young children. 

When a new playground was installed in the Park in 2004, baby swings were part of the plan, but unfortunately swings for older children were not. We feel that the Park could be so much more valuable to more families if older children’s swings could be added. 

The Woodlawn Area Neighborhood Association and other interested parties have, for the past two years, undertaken many improvements to Woodmont Park, under the very fine guidance and assistance of the staff of Metro Parks. Anecdotally, we feel that these small improvements have already resulted in increased utilization of the Park, with attendant benefits for the surrounding neighborhoods. All improvements have been the result of individual donations and small grants for trees. An older children’s swingset is outside our budget for the foreseeable future; thus, we respectfully ask that either a) a specific allocation be made in the upcoming Metro Budget, or that b) funds be included in the next fiscal year budget for General Park Improvements, of which part could be used to install older children’s swings at Woodmont Park and necessary adjustments under ADA to facilitate access to those swings. 

We understand the tremendous strain that Metro faces with regard to budgeting. In this case, we feel a very small amount of money in terms of that overall budget could bring a large dividend in terms of park usage, children’s health, and neighborhood vitality. We thank you for your service to Nashville, and hope that you take our petition under serious consideration.

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