********UPDATE*******
10/28/22
Come out to the park today between 3:00 and 6:30 to sign the petition to the Mayor and City Council and meet other interested folks!!! We'll be set up in the field just past Cancer Survivor's Park on the south side of the parking lot. See you there!
10/20/22
The meeting tonight with Nick Walker, Director of Parks and Councilmen Ford and Carlisle was not productive and somewhat contentious. We had a great turnout of Park supporters and everyone's presence and comments were very much appreciated. Mr. Walker showed a new diagram that "skinnied up" the fairway that bisects the meadow by the lake, but that hole and the hole over the lake still exist, severely limiting the use of the area. Mr. Walker admitted that Parks had done no data collection to determine use of the park prior to planning to take the green space because, "they didn't have to." There was a large contingent of golfers present that made it clear that their use of the land for golf trumped all others use. Mr. Walker said that the new plan would be shared (as of 10/25/22 that has not happened) and that ultimately he gets to make the final decision and that we "should not expect a wholesale change." It is clear that Mayor Strickland is the source of this persistent land grab as Mr. Walker answers to him alone and would not act without his approval. I encourage all to contact the Mayor to voice your opinions about the destruction of our park.
10/18/22
Meeting tomorrow 6:00PM at Sara's Room of the Memphis Botanic Garden (behind the amphitheater) with Dir of Parks, Nick Walker, and Councilmen Ford Canale, Chase Carlisle and Worth Morgan will be there. Very important that everyone is there. Hopefully we will see the plans mentioned in the below post. We must have a large showing!!!
10/12/22
The following email communication was received today from Nick Walker, Director of Parks. As you can see there MAY be headway being made, but we must not relax, we must be there in full force to see the new proposal. Think about what an acceptable compromise looks like to you (if there is one) and BE AT THE MEETING ON THE 19th!!!
"After my meeting with you and the visit with Friends of Audubon, I asked that we pull back on the amount of greenspace taken in by the course on the south side of the service road that bisects the east side of the park (the land that park users and the Friends of the Pink Palace use). We asked the golf course architect to do so, allowing enough space to let the crafts fair stay there and continue to have unrestricted access to the east side of the pond. That revised plan is what will be reviewed with the citizens on the 19th."
10/8/22
Despite saying that there was the potential for compromise and that the plans we have seen were an old version, the Parks Department has already begun marking the trees that they want to remove!!! This seems disingenuous. If you agree come to the next meeting:
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19TH, 6:00PM, MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN, SARA’S ROOM
Sign our online petition to the City to stop the destruction of the park at Change.org
