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Editor's note: The following from Tempe
Councilmember Ben Arredondo discusses
how residents of a central Tempe area
assisted the city in formulating plans
for a new park to be constructed from
federal grant funds. South Tempe
residents can get involved in their
neighborhoods, too, through a different
program. The city's Maryanne Corder
Neighborhood Grant Program
provides assistance (maximum $12,000 per
grant) to neighborhoods for local
improvement projects. Projects could
include such work as designing a master
plan for a park. Applications for the
2006-07 grants have closed, but look for
the application process to open in early
2007 for the 2007-08 grants.
By Ben Arredondo
The city
of Tempe is doing a good thing for
residents of the Victory Acres
neighborhood.
This
historic collection of modest homes and
hardworking families near the Loop 101
freeway and Apache Boulevard will soon
have a park to call their own. Victory
Acres Park will provide much-needed
amenities to the neighborhood, which has
long been known to its Mexican-American
residents as “La Victoria.”
Until the
Loop 101 freeway was built, Victory
Acres children had easy access to the
Escalante Community Center and Escalante
Park to the west. Soon, neighborhood
children will once again have a safe
place to play – without having to cross
major roads to get to their park.
It was
vitally important for the city to get
this done for the neighborhood. After
all, economic development doesn’t do
much good for our community if we don’t
also talk about neighborhood enhancement
and preservation.
The road
to get here has been long. In the past,
City Council members tried to pay for
the project with capital improvement
funds, but hard economic times made that
difficult. Then, last year, Tempe
decided to use federal Community
Development Block Grant funds to build
Victory Acres Park.
Neighbors
were consulted about where to locate the
park and they were invited to suggest
desired amenities. Even children at
nearby Thew Elementary were asked what
they would like to use at Victory Acres
Park. Their input ensured that the
three-acre park will include a BMX and
skateboard area, ramadas, a concrete
ping-pong table, a basketball court,
amphitheater, spacious lawn areas,
playground equipment, horseshoe pits and
a children’s splash playground.
The park
is entering the design phase and
construction will begin in early 2007,
with completion in late 2007. That day
cannot come too soon for the very
patient and deserving residents of
Victory Acres. I am eager to see
children playing, friends catching up,
adults exercising and the community
growing even closer.
Councilmember Arredondo chairs the Tempe
City Council’s Neighborhood Quality of
Life and Public Safety subcommittee. |
