Old North Works Toward Developing a Neighborhood Park

August 20, 2004

		On Saturday, July 31, residents of Old North Knoxville gathered again to attack the unruly undergrowth in the vacant lots on East Oklahoma, where a small urban park is planned.  Above is a photo of the lots before the first cleanup.  Below is a photo of what the site looks like now.

With rakes and saws and pruners in hand, with wheelbarrows and shovels at the ready, on Saturday, July 31st, seven residents of Old North Knoxville took another step toward turning the once abandoned lots at 412 and 416 E. Oklahoma into Old North's small urban park. On Saturday, work was focused on clearing away the brush under the two stands of trees at the back of the lot. Scrub trees and bushes, vines, pieces of poison ivy, and low-handing branches were cleared away to reveal monkey grass growing around the base of two of the trees. Broken bricks, rocks, empty bottles, and even old record turn table parts were also removed from this area, further revealing the inviting beauty of an area that one day may be home to a picnic table and a bench or two.

Work started at 8:30 a.m. and continued until about noon. Brian Easley, Russ Porter, Catherine Suddarth, Cathy Shuck, Kevin and Kelly Hamby, and David Booker not only finished work under the trees, but began work on the fences that border part of the future park. These perimeter areas will be the next target, which we hope to tackle in either late August or early September. 

This park is a joint venture between the City of Knoxville and the Old North Knoxville neighborhood association. The city will own the lots and rent them to the neighborhood association, which will be responsible for developing and maintaining the park. A landscape architect will be sought to help with the design. Grants and other sources of funding are being explored. Full development will probably take 3 to 5 years to complete.

Thank you to all those who volunteered for this cleanup and for the first one in June 2004, and to those neighbors who are taking turns mowing the future park site. Keeping the grass cut has gone a long way toward taming what were once overgrown eyesores. If anyone is interested in volunteering, call 524-8515 or send an e-mail to .