BIRTH OF A PARK: COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER TO BUILD PARK

Those in the neighborhood around Lorimier Cemetery know the recipe for a nice park:

Take one big lot being used to hold torn-up asphalt and concrete. Add a City Council candidate who knows that lot was dedicated as a park years ago. Stir in some concerned citizens willing to donate money and generous helpings of elbow grease.

And there you have it -- Washington Park.

It sits at the corner of Middle and Washington, a stone's throw from Lorimier Cemetery, Washington Elementary and Safety City, a bicycle course designed to teach children safety.

There's a large picnic shelter, a play structure, swings, sand volleyball courts and plenty of saplings planted by the city and by children from Washington Elementary.

The park is an example of what can happen when a community comes together, said City Councilman J.J. Williamson. Situated in his ward, Washington Park was once a dumping ground for the Department of Public Works. Employees temporarily put torn-up asphalt, concrete and other debris on the lot, then moved it to permanent sites.

Williamson started running for his first council term in late 1993, and he promised constituents that the lot would become a park. It was dedicated for that purpose at the turn of the century, a fact seemingly forgotten for decades. Constituents in Ward I were concerned that parks were being built on the south and west sides of Cape Girardeau, but not in the downtown area.

But getting city money for parks isn't that easy. Sometimes roads, sewers and other projects are needed more. To build Washington Park, private donations were needed, Williamson said.

Tom M. Meyer, a member of the Evening Optimists, already had been working toward getting the park. He mobilized members of his club behind the project. They donated $1,000, along with a lot of time.

The Junior Optimist Club helped build the volleyball courts. Club members live at the Girardot Center, a group home for teens who have had trouble with the law. The center is associated with Southeast Missouri State University and is near the new park, so grant money was used for park development.

A big problem in establishing Washington Park was its topography. Engineers decided the main part of the park had to be in the northwest corner of the property, but that corner needed lots of fill dirt. The late Nip Kelley donated equipment, plus a day's labor from his employees, to move dirt from the Lexington Avenue extension project.

Children from Washington Elementary planted saplings. Principal Barb Blanchard said the students held a contest to name the park, and children were encouraged to pick a Native American name -- most of the parks in Cape Girardeau have them. Instead, the children showed school pride and insisted on naming it after their school.

All the groups involved will come together at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the park for a dedication ceremony.

Just days after its final completion, the park is getting plenty of use. Parks and Recreation Director Dan Muser drives by after school and finds laughing children on swings and slides. Families gather on weekends to barbecue under the shelter.

Meyer of the Evening Optimist lives in the neighborhood and also likes to see children in the park.

"It is more than what we hoped for," he said. "When we started out, we just wanted something that would work with the mixture in the neighborhood -- children and senior citizens.

"Now we have more and better playground equipment for the children and a great shelter for the seniors."

Meyer's interest in parks for the northeast side of town hasn't waned since Washington Park's completion. He and Williamson are joining again to get a park in Red Star. It would be built on the sites of flood buyout houses.

Residents in and around Red Star are invited to join the effort. There is a meeting scheduled for 7 tonight at the Red Star Baptist Church.