Keep parks plan?
A Red Oak resident is seeking community awareness regarding a proposed project at Fountain Square Park.
The main focus of the project would see renovations to the fountain itself, and the moving of all the memorials currently located throughout the park to one location in the northeast corner. The idea for the project was initially created as part of the Downtown Revitalization and Improvement Master Plan in March, 2012.
Carolyn Williams has been questioning the necessity of the project for some time. Williams is holding an informational gathering with details about the project at 5:30 p.m. this Thursday.
Williams said she believes the idea for the plan, based on the length of time that has passed since the initial project was created, needs to be revisited.
“I’ve questioned the purpose of this and have been told it’s to create a secure place and a smaller area to honor all of our veterans. I don’t understand why we need to move anything,” Williams said.
One of the components is a payment of $10,000 for preliminary work on the renovation project to be voted on at the next Red Oak Park Board meeting Sept. 8. Williams is looking to inform as much of the public as she can prior to that meeting.
“I don’t want this to get down to the crunch. It’s going to be on their agenda to pay $10,000 to the architect to put the plan in place for the renovation. Once that money is paid out, it’s almost like, we’re on board,” commented Williams.
Williams said committee members who organized the initial plan or members of the council and administrators who support the plan are welcome to attend the gathering to share their thoughts on the project.
When she has asked people in the community about the project, Williams said many seem to be unaware of the proposed plans, which is the driving force behind her organization of this upcoming informational gathering.
For the project itself, Williams said she is concerned about the age of the existing memorials allowing them to be moved without damaging them.
Another component to the project is to install the Montgomery County Freedom Rock amongst the memorials, if and when they are moved.
“To me, based on some of the information I’ve read, that rock doesn’t belong in a memorial park. It needs to be a stand-alone thing. They are stand-alone monuments in other communities,” Williams stated.
Williams stressed that she’s not trying to stir up a fight, she just wants the public to know what’s going on.
“This is coming, this is what the city wants to do, and if the public doesn’t want it, they need to say so, right now. We have new board members, new council members since the idea was created. I believe it should be reconsidered and restructured. Until that’s done, paying out $10,000 for the project just doesn’t seem right,” Williams said.