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Legacy Playground

Legacy Playground [1]is the name of a proposed universally accessible playground in the Greater Nashua,New Hampshire area.

"A universally accessible playground is a play environment specifically created to be accessible to all children including those with disabilities. It features more physically challenging routes of travel and/or activities beside ramp-accessible routes enabling children of all abilities to play side-by-side.

"Because disabilities go beyond physical limitations, ... designs meet the needs of children with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments.

"By creating parallel play experiences, social gathering areas and quiet spaces, and then combining that with decks, ramps, berms and transfer points or modules you can get the playground you want, with the accessibility kids need".[2]

The organizers are alumni of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce's[3] Legacy Greater Nashua class of 2012.[4]

"The Leadership Greater Nashua program consists of a series of classes that give a first-hand look into Nashua’s infrastructure. These monthly, day-long classes are all mandatory, and are guided by a series of themes classifying the different sectors that make up Nashua. They are lead by Chamber staff and a specially chosen facilitator, who serves as the coach and the common thread throughout the program. The information and connections forged will contribute to the class’s final project—a unique, valuable contribution to the community that draws upon the resources discovered throughout the year".

Planning History

Planning began in April, 2012 and fundraising in June. To date organizers have raised almost $130,000.00 of their $250,000.00[5] goal and hope to complete the project in the summer of 2014. Greater Nashua United Way[6] is serving as fund collection agency. Since Spring, 2013 fundraising has slowed while organizers, Nashua city government and stakeholders discuss potential sites in Nashua.

To obtain information on potential user needs the Legacy Playground organizers collected information from special educators, parents of disabled children, senior citizens, state and local human service agencies, veterans groups, Nashua Parks and Recreation Department and other stakeholders. They distributed a survey [7] and received several hundred responses. Using this information they established criteria for evaluating 55 potential sites in Nashua. Based on this evaluation organizers determined Greeley Park was the best location in Nashua.

Public Support for a Universally Accessible Playground

While community members have raised concerns over the playground site there is overwhelming support for accepting the organizers gift and siting the playground somewhere in Nashua. At one public meeting a member of the Nashua Board of Education said,

“I think we tend to get labeled things, especially in the news, and you see ‘neighbors that are opponents of the playground,’” she told the project coordinators. “The playground’s a wonderful idea, and you should be commended for that. The issue is the location of the playground.”[8]

Another speaker at the same meeting said,

“I don’t think anybody in this city is against this project whatsoever,” he said. “We’re actually all for it.”[9]

This writer illustrates the concerns of some Nashua residents. They support the playground project but have grave reservations about the siting process. They are concerned that the Mayor and project organizers selected Greeley Park and then developed evaluative criteria to support this selection.

When I first heard about this project, I was heartily in favor of it. We were informed at the Board of Public Works meeting on Sept. 19 that this gift to the city was not contingent on the playground being in Greeley Park. There were multiple sites under consideration...

Let me make this clear: I want Nashua to have an all-accessible playground.... This is an amazing project. But to insist that it can only be built in a historic park, celebrated for its beauty and dedicated to open space, or not be built at all – in a city with 46 public green spaces – is preposterous.

The evidence suggests that Greeley Park was pre-selected as the location and that those of us who sat in the room Sept. 19 (2013) and who were assured that the Sargent Avenue and Labine Park locations were still on the table, were misled. There have been multiple site plans made available to the viewing public for Greeley Park. I, for one, am still waiting to see anything other than hand waving regarding designs for Sargent Avenue and Labine.

Instead, it’s always been all Greeley, all the time.

The question I have to ask is, why?"[10]

Board of Public Works

In March, 2013 the Nashua Board of Public Works began discussing Legacy Playground. In succeeding meetings, with input from organizers, City administration, the Department of Parks and Recreation, Greeley Park neighbors and other citizen stakeholders the Board debated potential locations, playground size and proposed structures and amenities. After a four hour public meeting on December 2, 2013 attended by several hundred citizens and after hearing extensive public testimony, The Board voted 4 to 1 to recommend Greeley Park as the playground site.

"MOTION: By Commissioner Lavoie to approve the location of Greeley Park for the Legacy Playground and to provide a positive recommendation to the Board of Aldermen

SECONDED: Commissioner Gagnon MOTION CARRIED: Commissioner Pappas opposed:" [11]

Board of Aldermen

On January 14, 2014 Alderman At Large Diane Sheehan submitted a resolution to the Board of Aldermen recommending Greeley Park as the site for the Legacy Playground. Her resolution was co-sponsored by six of her colleagues.[12]

The Resolution proposes the West side of Greeley Park, behind the stone house, as the site of Legacy Playground. It restricts the playground to 12,000 square feet, prohibits the removal of any mature, healthy tree and requires removal of old, existing playground from another site and restoration of the old site as a passive recreation area. [13]

The Resolution was referred to the Committee on Infrastructure chaired by Alderman At Large James Donchess[14] On February 3, 2014 Alderman Donchess chaired an informal meeting between Greeley Playground organizers and interested city residents to discuss issues of concern around siting. At the meeting Alderman Donchess offered to request city funding for an independent evaluation of several sites by a professional consultant. Organizers agreed to support a professional evaluation of 4 possible sites for the Legacy Playground. Three are in Greeley Park and one is at Lincoln Park. [15]

Location Controversy

In her State of the City address on February 13, 2013 Mayor Louzu announced that a group local citizens was raising funds to replace the existing playground at Greeley Park with a universally accessable playground. [16] This was the first formal notice that the city and Legacy Playground organizers were working together.

Project organizers made their first presentation to the City at the Nashua Board of Public Works (BPW) meeting on March 14, 2013. The presentation was for informational purposes only. The discussion focused on Greeley Park as the playground site. Commissioner Lavoie moved that the Board make a positive recommendation on the playground at Greeley Park to the Board of Aldermen. The motion passed 4 to 1. The last sentence of the meeting minutes reflect, "Mayor Lozeau requested the consensus of the Board before moving forward." [17],(see pages 6 & 7).

The Board of Public Works discussed siting options for the playground at their July 23, 2013 meeting. The minutes reflect that while there was support for Greeley Park the Board felt other sites should be considered. One member was concerned that Greeley Park had already been overdeveloped. No siting decision was made and, "The Mayor said we would spend some time looking at the alternatives and would get back to the group again next month".[18] (see pages 3 & 4). The minutes of the August, 2013 meeting do not mention discussion of Legacy Playground.[19]

The Board next discussed the playground on 9/19/13 in a lengthy and sometimes spirited meeting. Several members of the public, several Aldermen and at least one Board member opined that Greeley Park was not an appropriate site for Legacy Playground for these and other reasons:

• Greeley Park was already overdeveloped.
• The site of the existing playground would require too much rehabilitation work.
• A second proposes site in Greeley Park would negatively impact open space and reduce free-form recreation.
• In 2006 the Aldermen, by ordinance, had assumed increased stewardship over Greeley Park and the need for their review and approval was not being considered.
• The organizers had raised less than 1/2 their proposed budget. What would happen if money ran out before project completion.
• The city should not allow tree cutting or increased infrastructure (paved pathways, increased parking spaces, paving additional access roads) because these changes negatively impacted user enjoyment.
• The City has a history of starting capital improvements in Greeley park and then not completing them due to lack of funding.
• Neither the city nor park organizers have drafted a site plan showing actual park equipment, elevations and other information necessary to make an informed judgement.
• The Mayor and organizers had not seriously considered other sites in the city; Greeley Park was their original choice and they devised their criteria to ensure Greeley was chosen.

Several park organizers spoke to some of these concerns. At discussion's end the Mayor said she would set-up a future Board meeting in a larger space to resume the discussion.[20] (see pages 1 to 47).