Tag: Tina Sullivan

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Overton Park Conservancy Announces New Executive Director

Kaci Murley (Photo: courtesy Overton Park Conservancy)

Kaci Murley has been named the new executive director of the Overton Park Conservancy. This announcement comes after Tina Sullivan stepped down from the role this summer.

“I know this work, and I am absolutely energized to build and sustain a strong and lasting public asset while leading an incredible team that embodies dedication to the mission every single day. I love this city so much, and I could not be more honored to begin this new chapter,” Murley said.

Murley formerly served as the organization’s deputy executive director, where she worked on strategic leadership and development management, fundraising strategy, community relations and more. Officials said Murley’s experience in leadership, project management, and fundraising campaign planning will help guide the park into its “next phase.”

Before joining the conservancy, Murley worked in a number of roles in higher education, including being the director of post-secondary success at tnAchieves (also known as Tennessee Promise) and the director of engagement and advocacy at Complete Tennessee.

Murley also worked as the director of programs for Leadership Memphis. A graduate of Christian Brothers University, where she obtained a bachelor of arts in English for corporate communications, Murley also received a master of arts in leadership and public service from Lipscomb University.

In a statement released by the Overton Park Conservancy, Murley was selected from a “competitive field of applicants by a committee comprising current members of the Overton Park Conservancy board of directors, along with several past board chairs.” 

“The committee felt that her connection to the park, and the strong internal and community relationships she has built over the past five years, made her the ideal choice to lead the Conservancy into this phase of growth,” they said in a statement.

Sullivan said she is “grateful to be leaving the conservancy in such capable hands,” and that she’s been “accelerating  ever since.” She also said she has confidence in the staff and board.

“Kaci has a thorough understanding of the park, its unique history, and its opportunities,” said Yancy Villa, Overton Park Conservancy board chair. “We believe this knowledge will inform her as she strives to protect and improve the park while keeping Overton Park in the center of it all.”

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Sullivan Steps Down at Overton Park Conservancy

Tina Sullivan leads a mindfulness walk in the Old Forest. (Credit: Overton Park) Conservancy)

Tina Sullivan is stepping down as executive director of the Overton Park Conservancy (OPC), the organization announced Tuesday morning. 

Sullivan will serve in the role until a successor is brought on board. She has helmed OPC since its creation 12 years ago. In that time, the park has seen a number of improvements, which brought a surge of popularity. OPC said visitor counts over the last several years have reached 1.5 million. 

 “Having the task of connecting people to nature has been deeply rewarding,” said Sullivan. “Something magical happens when people come to Overton Park and experience its unique beauty and welcoming culture. People from different backgrounds form bonds around their love of this place. The park’s diverse community is vibrant and thriving, and that strength is what will protect this place for future generations.”

Since OPC’s creation, the 126-acre Old Forest was designated as a State Natural Area, and the title brought a number of new protections for the area. New entrances to the forest were created by local artists and erected at its entrances. 

Overton Bark, a dog park, was created. The organization conducted research, removed invasive plants, renovated and maintained trails, and launched a schedule of nature-based programming, many of these with the help of park volunteers and supporters.

Maybe the biggest issue Sullivan helped to tackle in her tenure was one that, ultimately, ended nearly 30 years of parking on the Overton Park Greensward. Negotiations and controversy followed the issue for years until OPC leaders, the Memphis Zoo, and the city of Memphis signed an agreement in 2022. 

“Tina’s patient leadership during that tenuous period kept everyone at the negotiating table until the best possible solution could be found,” said OPC board chair Yancy Villa. 

The agreement also brought additional acres of old-growth forest back to the park. It also opened a large area in the park’s southeast corner, as the city agreed to close part of its maintenance facility there. 

Sullivan said the time is right for her to step aside. 

“With the park thriving and the Conservancy in a steady-but-growing position, this is the opportune time to relinquish the captain’s seat,” she said in a statement. “We’re in a moment of calm before the next growth phase, which gives the board some freedom to spend time recruiting the best possible leader.”

Villa said, “Tina has been the right leader at the right time for [OPC]. From its inception to today, she has led the Conservancy with integrity, tenacity, and passion.” 

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New Deal Saves Greensward, Adds Parkland, Forest Land, and Zoo Parking Spaces

Credit: Overton Park Conservancy

The Overton Park Greensward is kept whole in a new plan that will permanently end parking there, add 17 acres of forested parkland, add 300 parking spaces for the Memphis Zoo, and, perhaps, finally solve a decades-old problem. 

Leaders with the city of Memphis, Memphis Zoo, and Overton Park Conservancy (OPC), announced the new plan Tuesday afternoon. In it, properties will be reshuffled and repurposed to fit the needs of all involved. 

For decades, the zoo has used the 12-acre Greensward for overflow parking. The issue simmered until 2014 when Citizens to Protect Overton Park (CPOP) organized the “Get Off Our Lawn” campaign that brought the issue into focus and to the fore. By 2016, OPC and the zoo joined in mediation to find a solution. 

That solution aimed to reconfigure the zoo’s main parking lot to add 415 spaces, a number mandated by the Memphis City Council. This plan was paused to explore the cost of a new modular garage that would have been built on the surface lot on Prentiss Place. 

In 2021, projections put the cost of the garage at $5 million, above the $3 million both the zoo and OPC had committed to the original plan to reconfigure the main parking lot. In October, the groups announced they’d scratched the plan for the garage and would revert to the plan to pave the lot and take 2.4 acres of the Greensward. As construction was slated to get underway, this plan was halted late last year to explore other options.  

The new plan will:

• convert the zoo’s current maintenance facility (on the north side of the zoo on North Parkway) to zoo member parking

• add 300 new parking spaces for the zoo

• renovate and re-stripe the zoo’s current main lot (without expanding it) 

• vacate the city’s general services maintenance lot (about 12 acres on East Parkway) 

• add zoo maintenance facilities to that space on about six acres

• the remaining six acres will be converted to park space for visitors

 • this space will have a new access point to the Old Forest trails

•  establish a new walking trail around the north side of the Greensward, marking the separation from the field and zoo parking 

• return 17 acres of forest land to the Overton Park

• this land was held by the zoo for future expansion, particularly an exhibit called the “Chickasaw Bluffs”

• return a few acres of land close to Rainbow Lake from the zoo to the park 

• the zoo will give OPC $400,000

“This is a solution that we think works for everyone,” said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. “It adds significant new park space for Memphians, about 20 to 25 acres. 

“It preserves 17 acres of old forest and provides the zoo with the parking it needs as the top attraction in Memphis. It provides the zoo a quality maintenance area for its operations. It also provides both the conservancy and the zoo the opportunity to avoid spending for what has become an almost $2.5 million expansion of the existing lot.”

Some were shocked and disappointed when the garage idea was retired. However, Doug McGowan, the city’s Chief Operating Officer, said the project was more an exploration than a dedicated plan. When asked if this new plan was guaranteed to stick, McGowen said, “I guess it’s about as guaranteed as you’re going to get.” 

“You have all three organizations coming together saying this really brings us closer together in alignment, and that it forges the same vision of the park in the future,” McGowan said. “And the mayor and the council are behind it.”   

Strickland said work on the project will begin as early as this fall, when some fences begin to come down. The city won’t leave the general services area until summer of next year, however. This means the zoo can’t move its maintenance operations and Greensward parking will continue at least through this year and probably longer.  

When asked how the agreement came about, Tina Sullivan, executive director of the OPC said the groups simply continued to work on it. 

“Our organizations have come together to create a plan that sees them as parts of a united whole,” Sullivan said. “The zoo and the conservancy share a common focus on conservation. Today reflects a convergence toward our shared mission and our community partnership.”

Zoo president and CEO Jim Dean called the agreement “transformational” for the zoo. 

“The city’s General Services facilities will vastly improve our infrastructure at the zoo,” Dean said. “When completed, this project will not only solve our short-term parking requirements and help traffic flow. It will also provide a solution for our long-term parking needs.” 

Once the work is finished and the last car leaves the Greensward, Sullivan invited “all of you to a picnic and a very competitive game of volleyball on that space.”  

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Zoo Lot Construction to Begin Monday

CREDIT: Brandon Dill

Brandon Dill

It’s the beginning of the end for parking on the Overton Park Greensward.

Construction is slated to begin Monday on a project that will reconfigure the Memphis Zoo parking lot, adding an additional 415 parking spaces. Those spaces are expected to end the decades-long practice of parking cars on the Greensward, the grassy field adjacent to the zoo’s parking lot.

The first phase of the project will focus on the Prentiss Place parking lot, on the northwest side of the zoo. Work there will take about three months, and during that time, the lot will be completely closed. Once complete, the new Prentiss Place lot will have gained 108 parking spaces.

Prentiss Place is expected to stay open as a two-way street for most of those three months, though some closures are expected to complete pedestrian crossings and on-street parking.

savethegreensward.org

Construction crews will then begin work on the main zoo lot, just south of the zoo entrance. That work is slated to start this fall and winter, an optimum time to transplant many trees, which officials have said is necessary to the project.

During it all, the zoo’s North Parkway entrance will be staffed and open on busy days when overflow parking is expected. This will give access to the zoo from the nearly 200 on-street parking spots on North Parkway.
[pullquote-1] “By executing on this project, we’ll fulfill [Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s] promise to put 30-plus years of controversy behind us by permanently ending parking on the Greensward, as well as accommodating the growth of one of the nation’s top zoos,” Doug McGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “We will surely have some growing pains as we work through the construction, but we’re committed to strong communication to make sure park visitors, zoo patrons, and neighborhood residents know what to expect.”

New zoo president and CEO Jim Dean said he was “very happy” to have the “strong” support of the Overton Park Conservancy, Overton Park Alliance, and the city of Memphis.

“The Memphis Zoo has been a part of Overton Park since 1906,” Dean said. “We have grown quite a bit since then and have faced some challenges.

The hotly contested battle for the Greensward

“We’re happy this resolution will, once complete, end parking on the Greensward. We are also excited about strengthening and growing our partnership with the Overton Park Conservancy and the Overton Park Alliance to continue to make Overton Park one of the best parks in the country.”

Tina Sullivan, executive director of the Overton Park Conservancy, said community support made the project possible and “is a testament to Memphis’ love for Overton Park.”

“We look forward to the day very soon when park visitors can look from the Doughboy statue to Rainbow Lake across a beautiful Greensward that is free of cars,” Sullivan said.

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Tigers, Redbirds, Trump, Porn, and Co-Yo

What a week it was. The football Tigers beat UCLA using a combination of great offense, timely defense, and good ol’ Mid-South heat and humidity. Those California dudes never knew what hit ’em.

And the Memphis Redbirds won the Pacific Coast League championship, beating out all the other teams on the Pacific Coast, including the Nashville Sounds, El Paso Chihuahuas, Omaha Storm Chasers, and the fearsome New Orleans Baby Cakes.

To sum it up: Memphis 2, “Pacific Coast” 0.

It was a week where I found myself agreeing with Donald Trump, at least for a few hours. After a Wednesday night meeting with Democratic Congressional leaders, “Cryin’ Chuck” Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, Trump began his Thursday morning by tweeting: “Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated, and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!” Followed by: “They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own — brought in by parents at young age.”

The paleo wing of the GOP went nuts. Ann Coulter tweeted, “Who doesn’t want to impeach Trump?” Sean Hannity blamed it all on Mitch McConnell for “forcing” his hero to “work with Democrats.”

Trump had seemingly done a complete flip-flop on DACA overnight. My guess is that Pelosi shook Trump’s hand and said, “Oh my, it’s so BIG!!” and Trump agreed to everything she asked, including a deal to save the Dreamers and turn the border wall into a cheery Tex-Mex restaurant.

Sadly, the “deal” only lasted a few hours, and Trump quickly deleted his tweets.

So it goes with this guy. Save DACA. Eliminate DACA. Build the wall, and the Mexicans will pay for it. The wall’s already being built, and we’ll bill Mexico later. Wall? What wall? Trump is a presidential pinball, caroming from one “decision” to another, depending on the last player who flips him.

So what else happened? Oh yeah, Ted Cruz got caught watching porn, or better said, “liking” a porn video with his Twitter account. The New Yorker‘s Andy Borowitz tweeted: “Porn Industry Irrevocably Damaged by Association with Ted Cruz.” Cruz blamed it on his staff, of course. His staff. Huh-huh.

The Emmys happened. Alec Baldwin won an award for his Saturday Night Live impression of Trump. Kate McKinnon won for her SNL impression of Hillary Clinton. And America wept, thinking either of these two comedians would probably make a better president than what we’ve got. Then Sean Spicer got up and reprised his acting gig from the actual White House, and the already fuzzy line between reality and comedy was blurred beyond recognition.

What else? Oh yeah, Trump supporters held the “Mother of All Rallies” in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. About 800 people showed up. Which, as someone pointed out on Twitter, is what happens when you name your march after Mike Pence’s wife. The MOAR crowd was outnumbered by a marching contingent of Juggalos, who are fans of the band, Insane Clown Posse. Write your own Trump joke. You can’t make this stuff up. Though I kind of wish you could.

Back in Memphis, 130,000 people attended the Cooper-Young Festival. I heard a record 37,000 windchimes were sold. I also heard we’re supposed to call Cooper-Young “Co-Yo” now. And I got this from a beardy guy drinking a craft beer, so it must be true.

Overton Park Conservancy director Tina Sullivan went to the Co-Yo Fest and tweeted: “Highlight of this year’s CY Fest was the elderly gentleman asking my opinion on public nudity & saying he might organize a Naked Bike Ride.”

First, I’d like to say that I’m not that “elderly.” And second, I think we should do it around the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue as it’s being taken down.

And in a final somber note to a weird week, British writer Kathy Lette wrote: “Sad news. I’ve just heard that the bloke who invented predictive text has pissed away. His funfair is next monkey.”

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News The Fly-By

Tina Sullivan Talks Trams in the Old Forest

As the final vote on Greensward parking approaches, park leaders said they’ll fight any plan to run shuttles through Overton Park’s Old Forest.

Running shuttles or trams through the Old Forest has emerged as, perhaps, one of the final sticking points on an agreement that would end parking on the Greensward.

Mayor Jim Strickland’s plan would put a surface lot on the site of what is now the city’s General Services area. Shuttles, buses, or trams would carry Memphis Zoo visitors from the lot to the zoo entrance on city streets.

Zoo officials have said the General Services lot won’t work unless they can run shuttles on Old Forest roads. However, state officials have said no motorized vehicles are allowed in its state natural area. — Toby Sells

Tina Sullivan

Flyer: Hasn’t the state already ruled against motorized vehicles in the Old Forest?

Tina Sullivan: I re-confirmed [last] week with a representative of [the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation] that they see no reason to consider re-opening those roads that have been closed for 30 years. Even if the Overton Park Conservancy (OPC) weren’t opposed to it, TDEC would still be opposed to it.

So what is the play here?

As often as OPC has said we would never support vehicular traffic on those Old Forest roads, the zoo has said just as often that parking at General Services does not work for their visitors, unless they can run vehicles on those Old Forest roads.

If that is a solution that the zoo is going to continue to pursue, then they’d be setting themselves up for direct battle with OPC and, potentially, with the state. So, yes, they’d have to pursue it at the state level, in addition to pursuing it at the local level.

What can we expect with the council’s vote on Tuesday?

I think that the council — as much as anybody — would like to see this resolved as quickly as possible. I think that the mayor’s plan is the best chance we’ve seen so far in getting this matter resolved. He didn’t throw it together quickly. It was a result of some pretty comprehensive analysis. I can’t imagine that the council would come up with — in the next week and a half — a dramatically different set of solutions that would solve this problem. The quickest and easiest way to get this matter behind us is to adopt the mayor’s plan.

Why are the Old Forest roads important to park users?

Kids are learning to ride bikes [on the roads]. There are senior citizens that rent tricycles from the golf clubhouse and ride them on the protected roads. We have so many 5Ks on those Old Forest roads.

Those roads have a very clear place in that kind of recreation for people across the city. We want to make sure we aren’t introducing something completely disruptive [like trams].

So, if you can imagine 1,000 runners on a Saturday morning competing with trams moving back and forth through a significant part of the road, it’s just not a compatible use.

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News The Fly-By

OPC’s Tina Sullivan Discusses the Zoo Parking Controversy

Overton Park held the city spotlight again this week as the battle for the Greensward hit Memphis City Hall, a battle that could get national exposure as the park will soon be featured on a new, national PBS series called 10 Parks that Changed America.

In January, Mayor Jim Strickland requested the Overton Park Conservancy (OPC) and the Memphis Zoo enter into a mediation process to resolve the dispute about the zoo using the grassy area for overflow parking. Council members were to be updated Tuesday on the mediation process and to consider a resolution to give control of most of the Greensward to the zoo. That vote was scheduled after press time.

The Greensward parking issue boiled over in January as the zoo removed some trees in the area to make way for easier access to parking ahead of this spring’s opening of the zoo’s new Zambezi River Hippo Camp exhibit. That action sparked protests from citizens and a lawsuit from the zoo to establish its right to control the Greensward. OPC answered that suit with its own claim for Greensward rights.

Meanwhile, OPC conducted a traffic and parking study of the park, and its consultants issued options, ranging from new bike lanes to a new smartphone app, to alleviate pressure.

Expect the park to get more attention — with or without the continuing imbroglio — after it appears on 10 Parks that Changed America, scheduled to debut on WKNO on Tuesday, April 12th. We sat down with OPC executive director Tina Sullivan to discuss it all. — Toby Sells

Tina Sullivan

Flyer: What are your thoughts on Overton Park’s current controversy?

Tina Sullivan: This is an issue that’s been in the background for a while now, and what we really have here is an opportunity to get it right. If the park institutions and the community can unite around implementing some of the solutions identified through the planning process, we will be on our way to creating a great user experience for all our guests.

What solutions do you like?

We can easily do a much better job of coordinating communications among all of the park institutions, so that we’re pushing the same messages out about peak events. … We were very hopeful when we were discussing with the city parks division last summer about reconfiguring the zoo’s existing lot. … And, of course, improving park entrances and park roads for people on foot, on bicycles, or in wheelchairs will greatly enhance the visitor experience.

OPC recently filed information to the Shelby County Chancery Court that counters the zoo’s claim that it, not OPC, controls the Greensward. Do you think the new legal information will help your case?

We’re very confident that our management agreement is unambiguous, and the documents we’ve provided make our case clearly.

What makes the park significant enough to be included in the new PBS film?

The park’s prime location has made it a target for development through its entire history. It has been protected only through people standing up and asserting that green space, whether that be the Old Forest or the Greensward, has value to the community.

The national spotlight will soon be on Overton Park again. What story does our city want to tell? Do we want to invest in our treasured public assets? Or do we want to let them slide further into decline by implementing poorly planned, make-do solutions?

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News The Fly-By

The Latest on Parking, Permits, and Sidewalks

CREDIT: Brandon Dill

Here’s an update on some of the stories that we began covering in 2014 and will continue to follow in the New Year.

• Overflow parking for the Memphis Zoo will continue on the Greensward at Overton Park for a period that could stretch until 2019.

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said while his “clear preference” was not to use the space for parking, the experience of this past summer made it clear to him that the Greensward “will be an important relief for zoo parking until such time as a viable alternative is realized.” 

The news came in a letter from Wharton to Tina Sullivan, Overton Park Conservancy executive director, on Wednesday, December 31st. The sentiment is a complete departure from a Wharton letter in May that said the city was committed to eliminating Greensward parking by the end of 2014.

“We were very surprised and disappointed to receive this letter from the city a few hours ago,” read a Facebook post from Get Off Our Lawn, a group organized to fight Greensward parking. “The fight for a car-free Greensward continues.”

Going forward, Wharton wants zoo and park stakeholders to work together to develop a viable plan for parking that does not include the Greensward. 

He called Overton Park a “great treasure” and called the zoo a “tremendous asset.” Wharton wrote, “The city will allow parking on the Greensward, as may be absolutely essential to zoo operations, until a plan is implemented, [or] Jan. 1, 2019, whichever comes first.”

Brandon Dill

Naomi Van Tol and Stacey Greenberg protest Greensward parking.

• Special parking permits will be issued to some residents who live around the Overton Square entertainment district but not as many as originally thought. 

The move to start a special parking permit program there surfaced in April. Residents complained to Memphis City Council Chairman Jim Strickland that Overton Square visitors were blocking their driveways and alleys with their cars and sometimes even parking in their yards. 

The program was approved by the council in August. Petitions were sent to neighbors in the proposed new parking district, an area bound by Cox Street on the east, Morrison Street on the west, Union Avenue on the south, and Jefferson Avenue on the north. A section of Lee Place North was also included. 

If at least 75 percents of residents on the individual streets approve permit parking for their street, they would be placed in the special parking district and permits would be issued to them. 

In all, only 10 permits will be issued to residents on a section of Monroe Avenue between Cooper and Cox. The council approved those permits on an unannounced agenda item during its last meeting of 2014.  

“Basically, [Restaurant] Iris agreed to pay for half of the first-year of permits for 10 permitees who live on the street,” said councilmember Kemp Conrad. “The neighbors … and Iris have agreed to basically split the north side of Monroe in the middle of the street.”

• The moratorium on forcing residents to fix their sidewalks was extended in late December.

City officials began enforcing a long-standing rule last year to make homeowners either fix their sidewalks or be hauled into Environmental Court. 

The council passed a two-month moratorium on the enforcement of the rule in May. Once that expired, a six-month moratorium was approved. 

The council approved its latest moratorium to last either six months or until the Wharton administration officials could propose a viable alternative. City engineer John Cameron said he and his office are working on the project and should present an alternative to the council in the first two months of 2015.

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New Pedestrian Pathways Planned for Overton Park

A better entrance and paved path will be added to the Poplar and Cooper intersection in Overton Park.

  • A better entrance and paved path will be added to the Poplar and Cooper intersection in Overton Park.

It’s not uncommon to see cyclists risking their lives in heavy Poplar Avenue traffic to access Overton Park since, currently, there is no paved pathway along the south side of the park.

But that will change by late 2015 or early 2016. Plans for a paved pathway that would encircle most of the park were on display last night at one of two Overton Park Conservancy meetings to address the need for improved walkways and park entrances.

Ritchie Smith & Associates presented plans to install a five to eight foot walkway that would begin at Tucker and Poplar, head east down Poplar, and wrap around the Old Forest along East Parkway. The pathway would veer into the Old Forest near the new bike gate, and it would connect with the paved forest loop. But near the East Parkway/North Parkway corner, pedestrians would have the option of continuing on the existing loop or taking a new path that hugs the edge of North Parkway and heads west. Currently, there are no sidewalks along North Parkway through the park, but a well-worn foot path in the dirt proves that many runners and walkers use that route anyway.

Also planned is a new paved path circling the greensward. It would connect with the path around Rainbow Lake and extend out around the greensward in a loop. At the meeting last night, architect Ritchie Smith told those attending that when the zoo parking situation is resolved, the greensward “can be one of the first improvements” they’ll make.

“We think people would love a path around the greensward, because we know more and more people are using the park for walking and jogging,” said Overton Park Conservancy director Tina Sullivan. “A loop around the greensward would provide more space and more greenery for people to see as they walk around.”

Improved access points are also planned for several park entrances. Currently, pedestrians and cyclists entering the park from Cooper and Poplar are greeted with a standard MATA bus stop and green space. But a new stone balustrade and some benches will mark that entrance, and a small paved “gathering area” will be added. It will connect with the new paved perimeter path.

“Maybe we can add a new bus shelter to replace that standard MATA shelter with its unsightly advertisements,” Smith said.

A pedestrian path is planned the Tucker and Poplar entrance as well since, right now, park users must compete with cars and enter the park through the roadway. Better crosswalks will be added at Poplar and East Parkway, and steps or a ramp will lead park users up the hill into the park. At East Parkway and North Parkway, a 10-foot shared use path will connect with the existing Old Forest loop. And a better crossing is planned for pedestrians entering the park from Rhodes College across North Parkway.

“We already have funding for the Poplar/Cooper connection, so we’ll see movement on that early next year,” Sullivan said. “The perimeter trail will be done in late 2015 or early 2016, and we have funding for that as well.”

The Overton Park Conservancy is hosting another public meeting on Saturday, May 31st at 10 a.m. in the Playhouse on the Square Cafe.