Park Update

One thing I've learned from studying demographics and statistics is that interpreting trends can be dangerous. If it was 80 degrees the day before yesterday, 81 degrees yesterday, and 82 today, I might conclude that by December 31 it will be 215 degrees, with no relief in sight. But of course that's ridiculous. Looking at a much larger stretch of the graph, we see that temperatures cycle up and then down again, over and over. The further we step back, the larger the context, the more accurate a prediction we can make about the weather, or the population, or anything else.

That's one of the reassurances I'm always giving the doom-and-gloom people. Sometimes it seems that most everyone I know believes that everything is getting worse--the economy, the environment, the educational system, teenagers' taste in music, you name it. Oh, and the world is going to end in 2012. I'm pretty cranky myself these days, and could probably use some of my own advice to just chill.

This morning I walked around the block with the dog, circumventing Armoury Common Park in the process. I was delighted to notice a young man wearing a bright red t-shirt (think: gang color) and lots of gold bling--a kid I know to be homeless and on drugs--industriously picking up trash all over the park and neatly bussing it in the cans. He caught my eye and gave me a cheery wave.

This evening I walked around the block with my dog, circumventing Armoury Common Park in the process. The park was empty and tranquil, as it should have been at that late hour, the gates closed with big chains and padlocks near the sign that reads, "Park closed at dusk."

What's going on? Are the park denizens taking stewardship of their own space? Are the police actually patrolling? Has a park ranger put this overlooked little space on notice? Is the apartment management once again abiding by the maintenance covenant struck in 1977 between the city and themselves?

I don't know. And I'm not foolishly idealistic. But the sight of my gangsta homie picking up litter has lifted my spirits all day.

Messy Park

Armoury Common is a jewel-like pocket park on the corner of Spring and Pearl Streets in Springfield. It dates from the 70s, when the area was rehabbed with lots of HUD money. In an attempt to attract working people to downtown, a group of apartment buildings were renovated, tennis courts were added, and this park was built. The gentrification didn't quite stick. The apartments started accepting Section 8, the tennis courts became basketball courts, and the park got rather run down.

Two years ago, probably because a new federal courthouse was being built nearby, the park was completely renovated. I was happy to see that the original design elements (cobblestones, river rocks, gilded amillary sundial, funky old-fashioned streetlamps and benches) were kept. In Springfield, you always have to worry that stone- and brickwork will be demolished and replaced by concrete. But in this case, the original vision was adhered to.

New sod was laid, some bushes were planted, and a new irrigation system was put in to water the whole business. The pump in the fountain was repaired and actually turned on. The river rock basin was repaired, and the sundial removed, regilded, and replaced. A statue which had been languishing in a closed park was relocated here. When the work was complete, the mayor and assorted bigwigs showed up for a ribbon-cutting.

I've got my own ideas about what should have been done to this park (it's purposely not kid-friendly, for starters), but the effort was certainly better than nothing. Unfortunately, the space is rapidly going to hell again. And why wouldn't it? This park has a bunch of posted rules, but no enforcement. It's never locked or patrolled by park rangers, police, or Armoury Commons staff. The shady corners make it a perfect haven for drinking and drugging. Nobody in her right mind would take a lunch break here or bring kids to play.

Here's a photo of the corner of the park nearest to me. This was taken about four hours after a park employee cleaned up the entire area. There are two trash barrels within fifteen feet of this spot.