October 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 75

construction crews prepare the selena butler Park site for installation of new playground and amenities.

also had a city dedicated to its renewal, a rich history, and a very diverse and engaged populace. The
community was calling for rebirth, and the residents
needed a common space to unite them. "
The 2011 Parks Build Community revitalization,
in conjunction with the grassroots America's Backyard initiative, would draw a total of $500,000 in financial and in-kind contributions, and in-kind work
from vendors and organizations across the nation
to help create a new multi-generational park with a
state-of-the-art playground, a refurbished basketball
court, resurfaced tennis courts, a community garden,
a games plaza with a bocce ball court, an expanded baseball and multi-purpose field, a walking track,
a picnic shelter and grilling area, and a community center, recently reopened after suffering tornado
damage in 2008.
The partners also commissioned a long-term
study with Appalachian State University and East
Carolina University, to determine how local residents
feel about the park and the community before and after revitalization. NRPA and its partners in the project
expect the study to provide qualitative and quantitative information about the park's impact.

measuring success
When asked about their vision of a successful park,
the people of Atlanta, from civil servant, to community
leader, to local senior, always emphasize two things:
drawing a steady stream of users to the park and connecting community members to their neighborhood.
" A successful park is one that people use, "
George Dusenbury, commissioner for Atlanta Parks,

Recreation and Cultural Affairs, states matter-of-factly. Dusenbury believes that the defi ning feature of
Selena Butler Park will be the way that it brings the
diverse members of the community together, a sentiment shared by 63-year-old Gwendolyn Ushry, who
recently moved to Auburn Pointe. " I see people of
all ages and races coming to the park to enjoy themselves and learn about each other, " Ushry says. " And
a family place...and I mean the people under your
roof as well friends and neighbors too. A place where
people help each other. "
Local business owner Matt Ruppert notes a wave
of energy brought to the area from the park's revitalization and hopes the park will inspire new investment. " I hope that with the park we attract better
businesses and new residents and have a better
neighborhood, " he says.

safety
Natalyn Archibong, councilwoman for the district in
which the park lies, believes consistent use will keep
the park safe. " As we have seen in the past, when natural constituencies fail to use parks, criminal elements
can use the park as their own, " Archibong says.
Dr. Kindal Shores of East Carolina University, a researcher for the long-term study who implemented
a series of focus groups earlier this year, indicates
that parents forbade their children to use the park in
the past due to safety concerns-and that the seniors
now worry that children will not use the park when
it reopens. " The seniors were very much concerned
about bringing families back to the area, " Shores
says. But she says that in addition to police and park

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