THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED 4/17/16
Jen O'Brien, the planner for the Our Space renovation at Rec Park, stated emphatically that "only one tree will be taken down for Our Space." She reassures concerned citizens that great care is being taken not to disrupt the trees with construction. The paved areas have been dug down 9 inches. The tree that is the center of the Tree House feature has twelve support anchors around it. According to O'Brien one of the twelve holes dug with an auger ran into a root and was stopped and moved. She also stated that there will be 150 trees planted in Rec Park.
Reassurances aside, residents near the Park are concerned that the activity areas have been moved 50 feet closer to inhabited areas. "The project is massive and will bring a lot of activity right to our backyards," said one resident on Schubert St. This person wanted a fence that would give some privacy but the deed to Rec Park specifies that no fences be placed in the park, in spite of the fact that the North end of the Park is fenced in already with a Page fence.
Running through the discontent is the City's lack of transparency. The plans are still not available online in any detail. A partial photo is available at www.ourspacepark.org but there is no information on the City site. Plans have changed since the Fall community meeting and transparency is lacking. This has been a persistent criticism of the David administration.
This is reminiscent of the last Rec Park renovation under the Bucci Administration (Rich David, Deputy Mayor then). Then the plan was to create a massive parking lot that rarely has more than a few cars in it, paved paths, and basketball courts. The construction did cut some of the roots of the trees, and 10-12 trees subsequently died.
Rec Park is one of the most popular parks in the city, the "Jewel in the Crown" according to Mayor David. That popularity is largely due to the oak forest on the Northwest corner of the park which provides some beauty and connection to nature. Yet, the trees are stressed due to their age–most are about 75 years old. Although there have been some planting of new trees in the last few years, each tree is valuable and should not be jeopardized by construction.
Our Space is an ambitious 3/4 of a million dollar project that will put many features in the area north of the bandstand, including a tree house, a maze, seating, and play equipment on a paved section on the lawn. William Barber, Parks and Rec Director characterized it as "Disney" quality in the park. Construction is well underway and recent estimates suggest it will be done by Memorial Day.