Residents push for North Asheville playground to be adopted as city park
ASHEVILLE - After years of community efforts, a North Asheville playground, dubbed something of a "political football," was rebuilt after being abruptly torn down in September 2021. Now, community members are pushing for it to be officially designated a city park, which they hope will prevent it from meeting the same fate when equipment again reaches the end of its useful life.
Formerly the Jones Park playground, it was renamed for Candace Pickens, the 22-year-old woman who was murdered at Jones Park in May 2016. Nathaniel Dixon was sentenced to life in prison for her murder.
“It doesn’t cost the city anything to adopt it, and it would just be symbolic to the family that we’re not going to throw it in the landfill again like we did with Jones Park," David Rodgers told Asheville City Council during a May 14 public comment period.
Rodgers, a North Asheville resident, has been a driving force behind the rebuild. The new playground was almost entirely community fundraised, with a $400,000 price tag. Like the original playground, which was constructed in 1999 by community volunteers, it was built in October by hundreds of volunteers, with the same firm designing and supervising construction.
Who owns the park now?
At the confluence of multiple governmental entities, it took an interlocal agreement to rebuild the playground. Asheville City Schools owns the land it sits on and tore down the playground in 2021, citing an "unsatisfactory safety inspection" in an email to parents, with the intent to rebuild when funds were available. It sits on the same parcel as Ira B. Jones Elementary School in North Asheville.
Later, ACS backed out of that promise — noting that the school board has no obligation to operate a playground that serves largely as a public park and discussing concerns of liability and funding at an April 2022 meeting.
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What followed was a community push, resulting in a unanimous vote September 2022 in which City Council authorized the city manager to enter into an interlocal agreement with the Asheville City Board of Education.
The school board approved their piece of the interlocal agreement at a subsequent meeting. Per the agreement, ACS owns and maintains the land and held the private donor funds to pay for construction, Buncombe County oversaw bidding and construction and the city of Asheville maintains the playground equipment.
Why a city park?
In the months since the rebuild, Rodgers said the playground has been "hugely used" and "well loved" by families citywide.
He said if the city were to adopt Candace Pickens Memorial Park it would offer some security in the coming decades, and "help us hopefully have a discussion in 30 years, when it's got to be replaced."
“We would like to not repeat the same failures that we had previously, where it was just torn down without a replacement plan,” Rodgers told the Citizen Times May 24. As part of it becoming a city asset, Rodgers said he hoped it would go on the city's online park finder so people are aware it's available for everyone to use.
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Council response?
After Rodgers' public comment, council member Sage Turner asked City Manager Debra Campbell if they could get information around the park, what adoption would look like and any financial implications.
Mayor Esther Manheimer said she would also appreciate learning more now.
"We have agreed to maintain it, and we put a trashcan there, but we don't have our park sign there. What it means is, it's not on our role as a permanent city park and we're not obligated to replace it in 20 years," Manheimer said.
With the playground on school property, she acknowledged that it is an "unusual and befuddling" situation, especially legally, "but it would be nice to see if we could figure out how to resolve that."
Asheville Parks and Recreation manages a collection of more than 65 public parks, playgrounds and open spaces citywide.
City response?
For Parks and Recreation to take full responsibility for the park’s maintenance, a few key considerations must be addressed, city spokesperson Kim Miller said in a May 24 email:
Formal Agreement: An agreement between ACS and City Council is required to establish clear ownership of the property.
Level of Service Concerns: Additional Parks and Recreation maintenance staff was not added for recently completed projects at French Broad River Greenway and Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center. Current staff capacity makes it challenging to effectively manage another park property.
Operational and Capital Costs: Parks and Recreation requires additional budget to support ongoing costs for materials, supplies and responsibility for capital investments for future replacement in 15-20 years.
"To ensure a well-planned approach to park maintenance across the city, APR is actively developing the Recreate Asheville plan with the community to identify priority investment zones, high-quality park projects, and a strategic action plan for the next decade," Miller said.
"APR believes the Recreate Asheville plan may present an opportunity for Candace Pickens Memorial Park to become part of the APR system in the future. This comprehensive plan will guide the decision-making process regarding Candace Pickens Memorial Park."
She said this information was shared with City Council earlier in the week.
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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville residents push for playground to become city park
