Fort Ward Park Concerns Nancy Jennings. Undated.

Fort Ward Park Concerns

Nancy Jennings.  Undated.

Goal

Restore the grounds of Ft. Ward Park and protect it from over use and abuse because it is a national historic site and a much loved neighborhood park.

Problems in the Park

Noise on weekends from amplified music.

Noise during the week from maintenance vehicles.

Lack of enforcement of alcoholic beverage regulation results in unusual amounts of trash.

Lack of enforcement of the size of parties who reserve the picnic sites.

Over use of the site has killed the grass in many areas.

Overflow parking onto neighborhood streets.

Water backs up and floods the backyards of adjacent homes.

Lack of buffering—for sound or view—with homes now adjacent to the park (since the farm house was torn down).

Speed bumps are hazards to pedestrians and impossible for citizens in wheel chairs.

Loss of trees—about 40 in the past three years.

Neglect of the azalea bushes.

Visitors are offered only a small bit of the history of the parklands.

Unused cement stands for picnic tables don’t help watershed problems.

Problems with the City

City employees violate legal regulations when performing maintenance activities in the park

City employees do not know who is to enforce regulations in the park; for example, Recreation & Parks, Police, or the Museum.

City lacks a plan for the park—other than maintaining building—and has yet to define how this historic site is to be used.

City lacks a process for developing a plan for the park.

City lacks a way for citizens concerns to be addressed in the plan for the park.