No Bully Zone Pocket Park

I collected cardboard, paper bags, newspaper, carpet rolls, discarded toys, clothing and old furniture pieces just by roaming through the neighborhood. It took us two years but we used these recycled materials to construct a lifesized candyland game that we unvelied and played at the Glenville festival last year. It was a huge hit kids had fun, the mayor and councilman came and even walked through!

This year the city and the landbank have torn down several vacant homes on Elk street and it's become a magnet for trash and has left our street a huge eye sore! It occured to me that this space would be perfect for a pocket park and to reuse my candyland game to create an artistic gathering space and drop off point for the kids after school.

My neighbros who are part of an active block watch already open our curtains and doors when it's warm and watch the kids transition to and from school safely. But the addition of this pocket park will allow our kids to cut through the park and have a safe space to play and engage with each other while their waiting for the bus and for their parents. This will be a drug free, bully free zome, and a delightful space for people to engage with each other.

Create a digital blueprint of the design 

Set the "board"/with the help of a landscape architect

Install and paint concrete slabs to serve as the gameboard path

Weather proof the game pieces

Plant air purifying trees and shrubbery 

Pocket park ground breaking celebration with ribbon cutting in August!

The process of dsigining and creating the candyland boardgame was revolutionary for the young man Michael Parks, who co-created it with Michelle. Michael was inspired to pursue his passion of creating something new. This stimulated his imagination for what could be in his neighborhood. This is what I want for every person in Glenville, young or old. This pocket park will give our whole neighborhood a space to come together, to care for our community and encourage others to do the same by preventing illegal dumping on our block, not to mention improving their air quality so we can all breathe easy. The Elk Street Club intends to provide a change in climate by the lake Elk ave. is closely located to Interstate I-90 and the emissions in the air may affect our seniors and our children who suffer from asthma and other breathing conditions that may result in needing oxygen. Elk Street Club plans to make neighborhoods a safe place for school age children to be dropped off and picked up during transit hours. We will provide more trees and help with air in the neighborhood helping to build, and add value to our community. This will create an opportunity for our new neighbors to meet the residents that have been here for years, empowering people to become involved in their own neighborhood gives a sense of ownership that we can be proud of where we live. New trees and bushes and fresh flowers will help lower emissions and help people with asthma, it'll be a creative use of the land and it provides a perfect green infostructure for our inner city.