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.”