HENDERSON — On Thursday, the Chestnut St. Park Beautification team announced they were the finalists for another makeover project — this time with Bobcat. The global construction equipment company launched a nationwide contest to gift one community with a $100,000 park renovation.
Hundreds of nominations were submitted from parks across 44 states and Chestnut St. Park is in the top five. According to contest rules, the winner and runner-up will be "selected using a matrix of criteria and evaluation from a panel of representatives, including the National Recreation and Park Association, and a public vote will count as a portion of the qualifications to consider.
Folks can vote for Chestnut St. Park up to once a day at www.bobcat.
com/parkmakeover until Oct. 3. In a press release, Bobcat said they were open to communities with a "shovel-ready park and recreation project" already approved by the local government.
Bobcat Marketing Specialist Caryn Odenbach told the Dispatch the construction equipment company is "more than a machine," when it came to the refurbishing of the park and didn't rule out the possibility of Bobcat equipment being provided to the work site if Chestnut is selected as the winner. The runner-up of the contest will receive a Bobcat zero-turn mower valued at $15,000. "We want to support the community or dealers and customers live and work in," said Odenbach.
"We want to do the right thing and have fun doing it." According to Odenbach, the local park was selected as a finalist due to its feasibility and location — and because Henderson is a community hungry for a beautiful space and the positive impact it could provide. Matt Sossamon, son of NC Rep.
Frank Sossamon, once again found and applied for the contest using the video submission from the last grant application that highlights the park's intricate history of civil rights and Black excellence. "If people want to make change, it might take a leader within the community," said Matt Sossamon. Thanks to Sossamon and the Chestnut St.
Park Beautification Project team — spearheaded by community organizer Charles Turrentine Jr. — the court has already won $50,000 worth of renovations from a nonprofit called Project Backboard a few months ago to refurbish the court's surface and add six new breakaway basketball goals. If Chestnut St.
Park is named the winner of this contest, the allocated funds could go toward a splash park, a walking trail, picnic areas, bathrooms — and whatever else the park and the community might need. Odenbach credited the creativity and history behind the video submission which outlined the park's lore — and pointed to the social vulnerability of Henderson as a predominantly Black community — as some of the reasons why the park made it into the top five. According to the 2018 Social Vulnerability Index by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vance County is classified as an 'economically disadvantaged rural community,' having one of the highest SVI's in the state.
Turrentine has been organizing the grassroots efforts behind this movement since the beginning of this year and has been working in collaboration with Davis Chapel Church, Director of Henderson Recreation and Parks Department Kendrick Vann, along with Frank and Matt Sossamon to make this beautification project possible. Turrentine said the makeover is a “symbol of the redevelopment and revitalization of Henderson and an opportunity to see what that looks like.” Despite Henderson being an area of high crime, Vann and others agree there are unwritten rules that help keep the peace in parks all across the city.
Ken Hisler, the associate director for Raleigh's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, said a nice park with "vibrant activity" can help deter crime and keep young kids on a good trajectory and off the streets. Things like playgrounds can bring parents together to keep an eye out for all the kids, creating a "collective effort to maintain safety and security," according to Hisler. "If you invest in a place in the community, the community will invest in you," said Hisler who has worked for the City of Raleigh for 25 years.
Hisler also said, in his experience, the improvement of a community park largely receives bi-partisan support. Two years ago, the city of Raleigh passed its biggest Parks and Rec. bond in its history.
Three out of four voters approved a $275M bond to fund 23 new park projects. Hisler and Vann also agreed that a widespread improvement to park infrastructure in Henderson could cause a lasting effect on the city's social atmosphere and civic engagement — offering opportunities for transformational changes. "Knowing the benefit of recreation to our physical and mental health, getting behind this idea was a no-brainer — not necessarily a political decision.
I'm doing it because it's what's right for the community," said State Rep. Frank Sossamon of House District 32. "That park is outdated and it needs to be updated.
" "Any time different segments of government can work together and get something done — that's a win for the people, and that's what I'm about," said Frank Sossamon. "Politicians come and go, but people remain." Bobcat will announce the winner of the makeover contest in late October.
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