Overton Park Shuttle
We hope park visitors will enthusiastically embrace free public shuttles and protect Overton Park's recreational spaces from overflow parking. But first, we must pay for the shuttles.
Leader
Naomi Van Tol
Location
1914 Poplar Ave Memphis, TN 38104
About the project
A few months ago Citizens to Preserve Overton Park put together a coalition of more than 20 local nonprofits, neighborhood groups, and businesses called "Get Off Our Lawn" or GOOL.
Our mission is to protect Overton Park's historic Greensward from being used for overflow parking, and to create real traffic solutions that will not harm our park. We have employed personal appeals to elected officials, standard and social media communication, and peaceful protest picnics in order to advocate for this change.
A few days ago, City of Memphis leadership agreed to ban the Greensward overflow parking during a five-week trial of free public shuttles from a nearby parking garage. We are now helping the park's managing agency (Overton Park Conservancy) fund this shuttle trial.
Our goal is to make this effort as successful as possible, in order to prove that shuttles are a viable alternative to destroying our precious green space with overflow parking. All donations will go to the Overton Park Shuttle project.
The Steps
We will help the Overton Park Conservancy fund free public shuttles for five weekends, and will supply volunteers as needed to help the project succeed.
Why we‘re doing it
Historically the Citizens to Preserve Overton Park were responsible for stopping Interstate 40 from bisecting Overton Park and destroying the integrity of Midtown Memphis. CPOP's current core group has been involved in making Overton Park a better place since 2008, when we began work to protect the park's old growth forest from clearcutting and other degradation. In 2011, the Tennessee State Legislature created the 126-acre Old Forest State Natural Area due to our advocacy.
CPOP's mission is "to preserve and defend the Old Forest and open spaces of Overton Park for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations." We know it is critically important to reach out to the greater community in everything we do, because change is not sustainable unless it is embraced by our community.
The historic 15-acre Greensward was created in 1901 by landscape architect George Kessler as a key component of the park's original design. The Greensward a peaceful open space that has always been intended for people to relax and socialize with neighbors. In recent years, we have watched it being slowly destroyed by overflow parking.
In just a few months, the GOOL campaign has already generated tremendous support from hundreds of park users and more than 20 nonprofits, businesses, and neighborhood groups who believe that Overton Park should be protected and treasured, not devalued by a collective failure to solve traffic problems. Our community is finally working together toward a real and lasting solution, and we believe park shuttles are a critical part of that solution.