There is more than enough space in the Albion Street Park for an off-leash recreational area, but the prevailing mood--among the twenty or so residents who attended the public meeting with Ward 5 Alderman, Sean O'Donovan at the Visiting Nurses Association to discuss possibilities for the park renovation--was not one that was receptive to the idea of creating spaces where neighbors may safely and legally allow our dogs to play with one another off-leash. Representing City Hall at the meeting were Gerald Boyle, Director, Capital Projects Management Department; Carlene Campbell, Community Relations Manager; Arn Franzen, Project Manager; and Sherri Geldersma, Director of Urban Design.

Alderman O'Donovan opened the meeting by explaining that, because the Albion Street Park neighborhood does not qualify for the Federal Grant Program, the park renovation will be funded by a bond, the application for which is currently being prepared by the Mayor. The Board of Aldermen will have the opportunity to review and ultimately approve the proposal, and O?Donovan is confident that the Albion Street Park renovation will be one of the first parks to be renovated when the city gets the money.

In response to a question from a resident, Sherri Geldersma explained that the eligibility of neighborhoods for federal grant money is determined by demographics: as the City grows more prosperous, fewer and fewer neighborhoods qualify for federal money.

A resident, whose family has owned property abutting the park since 1910, sketched the history of the park, which opened in 1948, after being donated to the city by a local business owner. The park has been the setting for many colorful episodes. Kids used to thump into a wall enclosing the park because a swing set was positioned too close to the wall. Playground equipment in the park was once destroyed by arson, and a kid with a hatchet chopped up the wooden tables and posts one night. One afternoon our raconteur came home to find a kid using a bolt cutter to cut a hole in the park fence into his backyard: the kid explained that he needed a hole in the fence there, so that he could sneak away from the police when they patrolled the park. Savory scenes unfolded on park benches, twenty-five feet from the abutter's windows, until he convinced the DPW to remove the benches. The sandbox in the park has been fouled not only by dogs and cats, but also by humans! The city knocked down a wall in the park to make room for a street hockey rink and left it there--the wall is still there under the surface of the park! Kids used to come from far and wide to play street hockey in that rink until it fell into disrepair. Boston Ivy and grape vines that were not planted by human hands shade neighbors' yards and make it impossible for them to grow tomatoes, but the vines attract birds that the abutters enjoy.

Residents agreed that of all the parks amenities, the basketball courts get the most use. It was recommended that the he basketball courts be re-positioned and security lighting improved, so that cops can see kids in the park at night. Also, it was requested that the 10:00 curfew be enforced: abutters are awoken by the boing!, boing! of basketball at 2:00 in the morning. Another problem with the basketball courts is that kids ride their minibikes on them. A request was made by a resident involved in Little League baseball that the city to maintain fencing within the park that divides it into parcels in which it is impossible to play baseball: because of the location of the park, it is not appropriate for hardball.

In addition to basketball and hockey, Albion Street Park also accommodates four square, hopscotch and Paddle Ball, which is played during the summer in programs run by the recreation department. Apparently the shed in which the recreation department stores equipment is no longer removed at the end of the season, and kids get behind the shed to hide from police.

One resident said that he never sees anyone in the park and that the renovation should make the park more welcoming. There were conflicting reports on park usage: notably one person said that she has never seen water in the parks wading pool, while another person reported that the wading pool fountain was turned on nearly every day, but no one ever used it.

Residents expressed a desire for a greener park, with grass or at least some shrubery, in addition to the trees, which one resident hailed as the parks finest asset. To make the park more inviting, one resident requested that the water-fountain be repaired and that the brick surface of the seating area be weeded. Those bricks are storied, too: when they become lose, kids throw them into the neighboring yards. Kinda makes you wonder who raised the kids in the Ablion Street Park neighborhood.

But kids are not the only problem in Albion Park. Dog owners bring their dogs into the park at 6:00 in the morning and at 11:00 at night, when the dog officer is off duty. Police patrols see people allowing their dogs in the park and, knowing that dog owners have no where in the city to safely and legally take their dogs, don't do anything about it.

The city representatives offered some ideas about structures that could be included in the park to make it more attractive to children of all ages: a disc-structure that replaces the old merry-go-round, an update on the old-fashioned "spring-rider" (those animal forms on springs that rock back and forth), and a space-age climber that has different "strata,"--at ground level, young children like to crawl and explore, while older, more adventurous children climb to higher levels. The playground surface will be replaced with "poured-in-place safety surfacing.

Albion Street Park has more swings than any other park in the City (to abutters' chagrin when the swings are in use at 1:00 in the morning!). Swing set enthusiasts will be pleased to know that because of its size, Albion Street Park can accommodate the safety zone that is required today around swing sets. Shade structures can be an alternative to trees for ultraviolet protection. For the young-at-heart, the City would like to install comfortable seating with armrests that have the added benefit of preventing the benches from serving as places where undesirables can stretch out and sleep.

Alderman O'Donovan brought the meeting to a close informing the community that he would keep us posted about the City's progress in securing the bond that will fund the Albion Street Park renovation.