Proposed Sidewalk around Overton Park
Mike Cooley
To OPC Directors and Staff: Attached please find my comments to the proposal to install a sidewalk in and round the Overton Park Old Forest.
To the folks that I have copied on this email: OPC staff recently published public notice and held public meetings to present its proposal to install a paved sidewalk in and around the perimeter of Overton Park, including the Old Forest. They also requested public comments. Attached are mine. If you are interested in this topic, please provide yours to OPC.
Thanks,
Mike
Michael S. Cooley | Vice President & General Counsel
(901) 775-5429 Office | (901) 409-3507 Mobile
Mike Cooley
Dear OPC Directors:
On June 21st I wrote to you regarding the proposed sidewalk around the Overton Park Old Forest and expressed my opposition to it (copy of letter attached). Many others did likewise, and we informed this Board and OPC staff that we do not want to sacrifice greenspace and trees for a sidewalk that is not needed. Despite the strong opposition, OPC staff recently announced its intention to move forward with the sidewalk through the Old Forest. Based on a statistically insignificant sample size and an outcome-oriented survey with questions designed to elicit supportive answers, OPC staff claims to have an overwhelming mandate from Memphians to install the perimeter sidewalk. Many of us believe the opposite is true. I am again writing to urge you as OPC Board members to stop the Old Forest sidewalk project.
I have lived in Memphis for almost 25 years, with the last 20 a few blocks from Overton Park. I run its trails frequently, am on the board of Park Friends, and a member of a small volunteer group that has been maintaining the trails of the Old Forest for many years. I am also the race director of the Overton Park 10K Trail Race (“OP10K”), the only trail race that takes place in Overton Park.
I started the OP10K just as OPC was forming, and my goals were similar to what the Conservancy communicated to the Overton Park stakeholders that it met with.
· Introduce a larger group of people to Overton Park - Thanks in part to the OP10K and also trail maintenance, we have a greater number of people using the trails on a daily basis. That makes the park not only more enjoyable, but also safer.
· Raise money for conservation and preservation projects - OP10K race funds contributed several thousand dollars to help repair the limestone trail. And through an agreement with Memphis Park Services, OP10K race funds are paying for 100% of the projected $10K cost to repair the stone bridges located on the Overton Park golf course. The stone bridges were built under a Works Progress Administration (“WPA”) project in the 1930s. WPA was a nationwide federal public works project in the 1930s intended to get people back to work as the nation recovered from the Great Depression. While well-constructed, time has taken its toll on the bridges. This project is partially complete, and we expect to finish in the next few weeks. A big thanks to Director Hooks and her staff for working with us on this.
OPC claimed it was going to promote the use of the park and to fund projects that protect and preserve the Old Forest so future generations can enjoy what we have. Those were also the OP10K goals and I viewed it as a partnership, and many of us have been hopeful that OPC would consider its responsibilities to protect the Old Forest as paramount. However the recently announced intentions to press ahead and build a sidewalk that cuts through the perimeter of the Old Forest is in direct conflict with the principles of conservation and preservation. Reminiscent of this, a few decades ago a highway was being built that would run through Overton Park and the Old Forest. Thankfully a group of citizens got together, fought City Hall, and stopped it.
The OPC mission is: to protect, preserve, and improve Overton Park. Many of us have been hopeful (some desperate) to see this Board and its staff embrace the first two pillars: protection and preservation, especially when it comes to the Old Forest. However it does not appear those are OPC priorities given that it is proposing to clear-cut a 10-12’ wide path of the old growth forest so that a 5’ wide concrete sidewalk can be installed where one is not needed.
The 4th Annual Overton Park 10K Trail Race was scheduled to take place on November 9th. Our sponsors and runners have been looking forward to it. However it is going to be cancelled. Letters, emails, and conversation appear to have fallen on deaf or indifferent ears at OPC, and I will not continue to support an organization that is charged with preserving the Old Forest but appears indifferent to the harm caused. I am just one person and it is just a 10K, however I cannot with a clear conscience continue to cause the OP10K to support an organization that, at best, has fallen so far from its promised mission. To many of us it seems clear that protecting and preserving the Old Forest are counter to the goals and objectives of OPC.
Regards,
Mike Cooley
Mike Cooley
I copied all of you on the email below and want to ensure you voice your concerns and let the OPC Board hear what you think. OPC staff recently announced that it will be moving forward with its plan to install a sidewalk along the perimeter of the Overton Park forest, major portions of which will require clear-cutting of trees. With the proposed 5’ wide sidewalk and required buffer from the street and other considerations, a 15’ wide area will likely be needed. While there are some sections of the sidewalk construction area that may have some open space now, the majority of the footprint will require clear cutting of hundreds of trees.
The OPC staff has told its Board that the public comments it received were overwhelmingly in favor of the sidewalk (‘only 6% opposed’). If you have an opinion, please share it with the entire Board of the OPC and copy everyone else. You cannot uncut a tree. You cannot undo the damage from a sidewalk.
For any of you who have already signed up for the race, your entry fee will be returned upon request. If you don’t request it, I assure you it will be put to good use in this cause.
Thanks
Mike
Mike Cooley
It was attached to the letter but for those who couldn’t find it, the proposed sidewalk(s) are in yellow. They also plan to do one around the Greensward.
Mike Cooley
I’m sorry about all of the email traffic. I promise this will be the last one from me…for a bit.
The main reason OPC staff wants any trail/path/walkway that it constructs to be concrete, including the perimeter trail, is that it is hoping to use funds from TDOT (TN Dept of Trans) to pay for it. And TDOT will not pay for anything that is not ADA-compliant (i.e. concrete). OPC is not solvent and its staff needs to look to third parties to fund capital projects. So from the OPC perspective, this was always going to be concrete, regardless of public opinion.