Tag: Audubon park renovations

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Audubon Park Renovations Endorsed by Neighborhood Group, Some Council Members

Memphis City Councilman Chase Carlisle via Facebook

Memphis City Council members Chase Carlisle and Ford Canale recently endorsed a reworked plan for Audubon Park Golf Course, one that saves green space for non-golfing park users.

The endorsement, which both recently shared on Facebook, comes after a public meeting on October 19th, where Carlisle said “when we learned there were concerns from some members of the community, we worked quickly to meet with them and engage in a meaningful discussion about how to maximize the park for all stakeholders.”

In September, neighbors voiced concern over renovations, and they claimed that they had received word of the $8 million renovations only through local media outlets. Many worried the plan would take away public green space to make way for more golf facilities.

They voiced those concerns in a public hearing last month. In it, Memphis Parks, Carlisle, and Canale discussed the renovations in detail and have the neighbors space to voice concerns and ask questions.

After the meeting, golf course architect Bill Bergin got to work, installing those concerns into his plans. The new design will preserve 20 acres of green space south of the park’s service road. This, it seemed, clenched the support of some neighbors, including the administrators of the Save Audubon Park Facebook Group.

“A compromise has been reached!” reads a post from the group Tuesday. “Per press release shared by Councilman Carlisle, the new design will preserve all green space south of the service road! Great job everyone!”

Canale praised the new design saying, he was “pleased that Bill and
his team were able to design a course that will have a meaningful impact on access to the game for all neighborhoods in Memphis as well as the potential economic development and tourism opportunities a facility like this will create while making sure all the needs of the community were met.”

The city of Memphis also said “under the course redesign, play will reach distances close to 7,000 yards,” and “the course and facilities will be able to host a myriad of tournaments and events, including, but not limited to, youth and high school events, women’s collegiate events, and the Tennessee State High School Championship.

At the October public forum, Walker said that the final decision would be based on a conversation between himself, the administration, and Memphis City Council. Walker also said that the funding had already been appropriated and approved, and that the project has already been scheduled. He also said that the final decision ultimately rested with him.

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Neighbors Continue to Voice Concern Over Audubon Park Renovations at Community Engagement Forum

Audubon Park Project Community Engagement Forum

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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Mayor Seeks Public Input on Park Renovation After Neighbors’ Complaints

Park bench at Cancer Survivor's Park. (Credit: Memphis Flyer)

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s office says that it will seek public input concerning renovations to Audubon Park, after several complaints from neighbors.

The $8 million project was recently announced by Memphis Parks, and will include a new playground, pavilion, and golf course, according to a post on the Memphis Parks Facebook page. 

The post also states that Memphis City Council approved the budget, and Strickland signed off on it. The renovation was part of Strickland’s 2022 budget proposal for $95 million in capital improvements that also promised a new Lester Community Center and a new Mt. Moriah police precinct. 

According to Angela Link, leader of a group called “Saving Audubon Park,” the Memphis Parks department released design renderings of the proposed Links at Audubon. She says that these renderings failed to acknowledge that the renovations will eliminate public use of green spaces by the lake at Audubon Park.

Several citizens have voiced their concerns regarding these renovations, with many criticizing the lack of transparency by Strickland. A new website, savingaudubonpark.org, states that citizens found out about these plans through other media outlets. 

“Despite the mayor’s suggestion that he wants transparency in his administration, there have been no public meetings to discuss the plan or get feedback from the people who currently use this area, the taxpayers of Memphis,” the website says.

The Flyer reached out to the mayor’s office regarding these concerns, and they released the following statement.

“​​The golf course design portion of Audubon Park in question has yet to be finalized,” reads the statement. “Greenspace near the lake will be available for use by the public. Memphis Parks will be seeking public input in an upcoming community engagement forum.”

Link agrees the course needs a renovation, but there “is no need to expand the course at the expense of all the greenspace.” 

“This greenspace and lake area is used by picnickers, walkers, dog walkers, teens playing hacky sack, families flying kites, and feeding the ducks, people just eating their lunch looking at the lake and all the rest people who are seeking a quiet calm refuge to just enjoy nature,” Link says. “If this plan moves forward, there will be nowhere in East Memphis for all these people to go to enjoy the outdoors by a lake.”

On Tuesday, September 27, citizens Laine Agee and Cathy Minch set up a table at Cancer Survivor’s Park to encourage parkgoers and visitors to sign a “Save The Park,” petition, in hopes of reaching 150 signatures. According to Minch, an employee with Memphis Parks informed her that if they received 150 signatures, a meeting would be set up to discuss concerns.

The Flyer reached out to Memphis Parks but has not yet not received a response.

Minch says that she recently went to a groundbreaking ceremony for the new pavilion and playground at Audubon Park. She initially thought this ceremony was for the golf course.

“There were about 25 people down there, and Mayor Strickland was at the podium, and he had this big mound of dirt behind him with shovels stuck in them, a big [public relations] opportunity for him,” Minch says. “While they were filming him talking, I held my sign up behind him. One of them said ‘sneaky deals,’ and the other one said ‘don’t tell the public.’ I held both of those up and people started coming from both ends.”

Minch says that they threatened to call the police if she didn’t stop, but she didn’t care. It was at this moment that she was approached by an employee and was able to receive pertinent contact information.

“It got their attention,” Minch says. “I consider this a success.”