By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Simpson Garden Park is going back to its roots to see where it should grow from here.
Last month, neighbors of the park voiced concerns about the direction of the garden park – specifically questioning the change allowing long grasses to cover about two acres of the 11-acre park. Neighbors and some citizens who helped establish the park protested the “messy” look of the knee-high grass.
At the same meeting, others in the audience applauded the less manicured look, that differentiates the park from a golf course.
So at Tuesday’s meeting of the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Board, it was announced that a Simpson Garden Park Committee will be formed. Mayor Dick Edwards will be sending out letters soon requesting citizens to join the committee.
At the same time, members of the original park citizens group will be reconvened.
“The planning for Simpson Garden Park started 17 years ago,” said Kristin Otley, director of the city parks and recreation department. “So we thought – why don’t we get that original core group of people together?”
Together, the original founders and the current committee members will look at the park’s history, its present operation, its costs, and its future.
“We want to look at what is the vision now,” Otley said.
Park board member Karen Rippey will be the board’s liaison with the committee.
The committee’s work will coincide with the park department’s master planning process, which will begin in September. Focus group meetings will be held – with Simpson Garden Park being the focus of one of the meetings, Otley said.
The garden park is a beloved feature in the community – and the long grass in portions of the park stirred strong feelings.
At last month’s meeting, Park Board President Jeff Crawford praised the park staff for their expertise and efforts – but questioned the direction of the park. City residents expect Wintergarden Park to be wild, but not Simpson Garden Park, he said.
Mayor Dick Edwards, who co-chaired the fundraising campaign for the park’s creation with his wife Nadine, praised the park staff, and said he appreciated the small area of tall grass by the amphitheater.
“But we’re starting to see it go away” from the original plan, he said at the June meeting.
Simpson Garden Park was created after the community raised more than $700,000 for the site and for an endowment for the park.
The 11-acre park, located at the southeast corner of Wintergarden Road and Conneaut Avenue, has seven acres of lawn excluding the walkways, planting areas, parking lot and building.
In order to reduce mowing, cut back on chemicals, and provide plants for pollinators, the park went with some patches of tall grasses last year. Then the wet spring this year resulted in some areas of the park being impossible to mow earlier this season, so more tall grass appeared.
In response to neighbors’ complaints, some taller grasses were cut recently – especially in those areas butting up to neighbors’ homes.
“I think most people are pleased with that,” Otley said.
Otley acknowledged the impossible task of pleasing all city residents.
“We try new things out there, and some people like them and some people don’t,” she said. “We’ve received a lot of feedback from everybody in the community.”
Otley also reported that the front acreage at Wintergarden Park has now been mowed. The wet spring made it impossible for the grass to be cut in a timely manner, and the city will be working on putting tiles in the property to improve drainage, she said.
