Neighborhood Park Receives $30,000 Grant for Development

November 10, 2006

		This park design was developed in the Summer of 2006 with the help of the East Tennessee Community Design Center. Click on the image to see a larger version.

On November 2, 2006, Old North Knoxville was notified that the neighborhood was the recipient of the Rohm and Haas 2006 Community Partnership Initiative (CPI) grant, for the development of a currently unutilized green space that ONK leases from the City of Knoxville. The park is located in the 400 block of E. Oklahoma Avenue, and takes up two vacant lots. The grant amount is $30,000.

This prestigious grant has been awarded by Rohm and Haas in Knoxville for the past five years, and focuses on improving the quality of life in our area through community land use.  Past CPI winners have included non-profits helping to improve Ft. Dickerson Park, Old Mechanicsville Park, and James Agee Park in Fort Sanders. David and Beth Booker oversaw the process to apply for this year's grant.  The Bookers were also instrumental in working out the lease agreement with the City, organizing crews to clean, mow, excavate, and place fill dirt, coordinating with East Tennessee Community Design Center to create a park design, and obtaining bids for the actual work to transform this passive green space into a useable community park.

Old North Knoxville would like give a HUGE "thank you" to the Bookers for their perseverance and vision for this neighborhood park.  Now, let's get busy and build the best park we can!