Hopkinsville community leaders broke ground today on a park designed to beautify the Durrett Avenue neighborhood. The $750,000 Joe Mumford Park will feature a playground, basketball court, pavilion and restrooms.
The funding is part of the Hopkinsville-Christian County WINS initiative. The location previously consisted of several trees.
City council member Patricia Bell said the park is part of a neighborhood revitalization effort. “Not only our children, but our families, our friends, will be afforded the opportunity to reconnect in a positive manner. Property values will go up and hopefully citizens will regain a sense of pride again.”
Bell said growing up in the neighborhood, everyone owned their own property. “And we didn’t hardly have any renters out here. And we didn’t have any problem - there were no riff-raff, no drug activity, none of that. Now we have a lot of rental property. And now we have a lot of unwanted business that we don’t appreciate. Because we were used to walking our streets day or night and never having a problem.”
Bell said now is time for the neighborhood to rebuild its housing stock and needs people to come forward and purchase houses. “It just needs to get back there. We need to be living in a safe area. And that’s what I’m working hard - to make sure that it comes back the same way it used to be.”
Mayor Carter Hendricks said the project is so much more than a park: “It’s a beautification project. It’s a public safety project. It’s a connectivity project. It’s a project about families. This is about reinvesting in a neighborhood that deserves reinvestment.”
Joe Mumford was a Durrett Avenue resident who lobbied city council to include the neighborhood in the city. Bell said if he were alive to see the park he’d “be so excited he wouldn’t be able to talk.” She described him as having been a mild, religious and quiet man.
The park is located on Woodmill Road between Sharpe and East 18th Streets. It is expected to be complete by September.