MLPGHRA.org

Tommie H. McDuffie Memorial Park

April 25, 2011 Report

The good news is that Phase II of the Park Project is underway!

At the Monday, April 11, 2011 meeting of the Town of Blooming Grove Board Meeting, two important Authorizations were approved. The first was to authorize a bid per Town Engineer Recommendation, the replacement of the fence for the Park. The bid has been posted in the newspaper and the opening of the bid will be on Thursday, May 5 at 11 am at the Town Hall.  The actual opening of the bid envelopes submitted by the contractors is open to the public and I suggest that anyone who can attend do so and learn more about how the process of the Town Board works. About $25,000 was set in the 2011 Town Budget for this.

On Monday, April 18, 2011, the fence removal was started by the Town. Photos of this will be posted on the MLPGH Residents website at www.mlpghra.org. The second authorization the Town Board passed was to award the bid for the basketball court to the lowest responsible bidder, Nannini & Callahan.  About $19,000 was set in the 2011 Town Budget for this. On Monday, April 18, 2011, Nannini & Callahan set the stakes for the beginning of the basketball court. On April 20, the caution fence went up for the start of the basketball court. On April 25, the digging started for the hoops.

The completion of these two projects is on or about June 1st. We are grateful to the Town Board for all their help with this project.

I personally am looking forward to watching these projects in progress. The next part of Phase II is the shelter, an asphalted area for the shelter, picnic tables, lights and electrical outlets.  For these, the money that we raised will be used. Anyone available to help, please see me after the meeting.

We would like to have the second part of Phase II completed by June 1 as well. It would be great to have a grand opening the second or third weekend in June. Again anyone available to help with this event, please see me after the meeting.

During the summer, the planning for Phase III will begin. Phase III is the bathrooms, sprinkler system and water fountain. For Phase III we will need to find grants and do fundraising.One more thing, last month, I met with Chief Schupp and he was very helpful, providing information on how to maintain control in the Park and made numerous recommendations for helping us make the best use of the basketball court and park. The rules for park use will be published and made available to all residents in the next few weeks.

We are on our way to having a real park, a very fine park, for both the children and the adults of Mt. Lodge Park and Glenwood Hills, something we have not had for almost 20 years.

There was a movie, Field of Dreams; well this is our movie, our dream is coming true, a Park of Dreams. We thank all of you who have participated in making this dream come true. Let’s see it to the end!

Johanna Kiernan

Chairperson, Tommie E. McDuffie Park Committee

I am very glad to announce that our community park was unofficially opened on Friday 5/15. I received a call from Town Supervisor Bohan to pick up a set of keys which I did on Friday afternoon. I went to the park to check the keys. It was about 3:00 p.m. When I opened the gate, a mother asked me if her son could use it and I told her that’s what it was for and I welcomed her son who was the first authorized visitor to the park. Several other children came over and entered the park. When the school busses arrived, children got off the bus, threw their backpacks on the grass and flooded into the park. Within minutes, there were about 50 children playing on the new equipment. I just wish I had a camera to record the event.

The Association will be planning an official opening of the park near the end of June. We hope to have some hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, soda and water, a tent for shelter, a D.J., a jumping toy in addition to the official ribbon cutting dedication for the new park. We will keep you advised on this group and the MLPGHRA.org website.

We urge all parents to make use of this facility which was the brainchild of the Association. We would also ask you to keep an eye on the park itself. It is there for the use of all residents and any damage done to it will equally effect all residents. If you see anyone abusing the equipment, spray painting or damaging the equipment, please call the Blooming Grove Police at once: 496-9161.

In the months to come, we hope to have security lighting, electric, water, restrooms, basketball courts, paved parking area and a flagpole. Anything you can do to further improve this facility will be greatly appreciated, just e-mail us at this group.

Thank you, Mike Jahn