Tempers flared between neighbors of Audubon Park and representatives from Memphis Parks during a community engagement forum on Wednesday at the Memphis Botanic Garden.
After neighbors of Audubon Park voiced their concerns and complaints regarding proposed renovations to Audubon Park, Memphis Parks director Nick Walker held the “Audubon Park Project” community engagement forum Wednesday.
In September of 2022, the Flyer reported that Memphis Parks department had released design renderings of the Links at Audubon Park. Angela Link, a representative of the group “Saving Audubon Park,” said that the renderings released earlier this year failed to acknowledge that the renovations will eliminate public use of green spaces by the lake at Audubon Park.
The mayor’s office told the Flyer that “the golf course design portion of Audubon Park in question has yet to be finalized. … Memphis Parks will be seeking public input in an upcoming community engagement forum.”
“It’s very, very, very, very, very important for us at Memphis Parks to hear from you, to get your feedback,” said Adrianna Moore, community engagement administrator of Memphis Parks.
“I also believe in transparency,” Moore continued. “We dropped the ball. Right? We did. We dropped the ball, and so we wanted to right our wrongs and acknowledge the fact that we did not get out information the way we should have gotten information out.”
In an effort to “right their wrongs,” Walker led a presentation to address citizen questions and concerns, view renderings, and discuss golf course renovations. Walker also set aside time for questions at the end.
While Walker provided a detailed presentation that worked to address questions and concerns that neighbors routinely raised, tensions began to rise as neighbors still felt that their concerns had not been addressed properly.
“Mr. Walker, [in] the presentation to the parks committee of City Council on September 13th, you characterized the renovation of Audubon and I’ll quote ‘a similar rescale and redo of the golf course as we just did with Pine Hill,’” Link said during the presentation Wednesday evening. “But what you failed to tell the councilpersons that were getting ready to vote, was that they were also voting for the destruction of all the green space at the east end of the park — the last natural, public space with a lake in East Memphis.
“Had they been given that information, I imagine they might have asked some questions like, ‘Have you talked to the public that uses the park and [gotten] their input?’”
As Link continued to raise the concerns of the neighbors, many citizens and homeowners began to voice their support of Link. However, as support grew more vocal, Walker urged citizens to wait until the question and answer portion to voice their concerns.
Some citizens voiced their support of the expansion with one citizen stating that “the city is to be commended for forward thinking.”
“If the city does not make the improvements and amenities necessary for the entire public, then they will run the risk of losing population, tax revenue, and all sorts of things,” said another citizen. “I do not think that there is a significant amount of this park that is going to be lost to the golf course.”
“So, I can bring my dog over there to play golf?” Cathy Minch asked in response to this.
While there were some that were in favor of the expansion and used this time to voice that, there were still a number of neighbors who used this space to voice their disapproval, with many offering their own solutions.
“The only thing that we’re mad about are those eight acres,” an attendee said.
“If you’re so talented, y’all can figure out those eight acres without ruining … it’s like Norman Rockwell of parks,” another homeowner said during the meeting. “You have little Hispanic kids, Asian kids, Black kids, and white kids. They’re playing all the time in that field. You’re taking away the area where they’re playing. Give us our park back. That eight acres is all it’s about. Figure it out. Give us our eight acres, and do what you want.”
Walker mentioned that the start date for these renovations would be in the winter. While he provided a space for the public to voice their concerns and grievances, he did state that he did not want to “mislead you into thinking that it is our intention to do a wholesale change on this.
“However that being said, if we were coming here tonight without the hope to have an open discourse, that would be disingenuous,” Walker continued. “We’re not here because we have to be. We’re here because we want to be.”
According to Walker, the final decision will be based on a conversation between himself, the administration, and Memphis City Council. Walker also said that the funding has already been appropriated and approved, and that the project has already been scheduled. He also said that the final decision ultimately rests with him.
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