HARRY STONE PARK: URGENT Info - Please read!

Please read ALL this information...

Has anyone noticed the changes at Harry Stone Park since the beginning of February 2007? If you have, or even if you haven't, we need to talk.

As you will notice, this letter is a little lengthy but once you read the entire thing, you will better understand the urgency of issues needing to be addressed immediately at Harry Stone Park and in the Casa View area. Please bear with me as I explain our area situation.

January 2006, there was a community meeting with the Dallas Parks Officials from the Northeast Division. Our community was told by the officials that even though they strongly wanted to create a soccer field in the middle of the park, they would agree to remove it from their plans. We were also told that they would not replace the main softball field lights as planned, but would only renovate them so that we could have the extra money from the difference in the two costs to do other things at the park that our community felt were much more important at this time. The meeting concluded with the Park Officials saying that they would re-draw their plans and would meet back with us in 30-60 days (1-2 months).

Well hear it is over 13 months later and they finally decided to hold another community meeting in late February, however I told them that I wouldn't confirm the meeting date for our community with them because the plans weren't re-drawn as agreed upon and wanted to speak with them to get things straightened out prior to wasting the neighbors time. They decided to hold the community meeting anyway without telling me and had a total of FOUR people show up. Needless to say, it lite a HUGE fire under me. After much "talk", I arranged a meeting with the Assistant Director of the Dallas Parks Department, Carolyn Bray, and the District Manager of the Parks Department East Region, Reggie Hurd. Reggie Hurd is one of the officials that was at the original meeting in January 2006. Our Co-Chairman, Amy Escamilla, and myself met with them on Friday, February 23rd. Two days prior to our meeting, the gate handles on the tennis courts were replaced and the landscaping surrounding the recreation center was all replaced with new bushes and monkey grass. All of us walked the perimeter of the recreation center and other various areas of the park. Many notes were taken, yet nothing has been addressed as of yet.

This is a huge problem. We need all the help we can get. The softball field lighting was REPLACED, not renovated (even after I called and inquired when the lights were first removed and was told that they were only being taken down to be re-painted). Of course, we were told in our meeting that the lighting WAS supposed to be replaced and that isn't what they had told us. The fence surrounding the softball field, dugouts and sidewalk going around the field have all been replaced as well. They never mentioned replacing all that. Now the interesting part is this...the recreation manager told us when she spoke at our March 2005 meeting that the items from the 2003 bond package included replacing the bleachers at the softball field and re-doing the concrete around the trees by the pool that is in such dangerous condition, yet at our 2/23 meeting I was told that they didn't know if there was enough money to fix the concrete or replace the bleachers and that those bleachers could be repaired and painted (note that they are the ORIGINAL 51 year old bleachers and are barely standing up with huge hunks of wood missing). Notice that the fencing, lighting, dugouts, sidewalks were not EVER mentioned in any of the bond monies at any point in the past 2 1/2 years. Plus, they are also planning on doing away with the two other ball fields to make our open space area larger which will invite even more soccer games, etc. which makes that much more trash, traffic and noise. I told them that if the ball fields had been taken care of they would have be used just like they were in the past, frequently.

On top of all this, there is a large community group on lower Ferguson that has succeeded in getting $19 million in bond funds for area improvements. A portion of their improvements include the purchase of land on which to build a brand new library/multi-generational park & recreation center that would be placed side-by-side. It would be located close to I-30 right off of Ferguson Road. If they succeed, this will take away a lot of money, etc., from Harry Stone and could end up being the demise of the park and surely of our area. They have been making statements to the city officials responsible for the final decision about our area which basically state that if they build new projects and/or update older ones in our area (the park improvements would be an addition of an indoor walking track, ice skating rink & aquatics center with an indoor pool), it would serve too much of Mesquite and not enough of Dallas. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of everyone else getting the good stuff and our area ALWAYS getting left out.

Please come join me in this fight. You can call me at 214/967-4729 or send an e-mail to:

harrystone.crime@sbcglobal.net

Any volunteering of time to place phone calls, do research, write letters, etc., is immediately needed. This park is the only thing good we have left in our area. If we don't fight for this park RIGHT NOW, this area has little hope left. If we fight for our park and get the badly needed updates/improvements, it will bring in better restaurants and businesses and make this area begin to lean towards a brighter future again. Help me help the Casa View Area to save it from destruction!

Cindy

Email us
Chairman@HarryStoneCW.org