MSCR
A new playground might seem like an unlikely starting point for a neighborhood conversation about equity and social justice.
But in Madison’s multicultural Bayview Neighborhood, a city plan to build new play structures in Brittingham Park sparked controversy among the area’s residents, leading to a series of neighborhood input meetings that resulted in significant changes to the city’s initial playground design.
Scheduled to break ground in 2017, the new playgrounds are part of the ongoing effort to revitalize Brittingham Park, once plagued by crime and loiterers.
“We’ve been able to turn the tide,” says Kay Rutledge, Madison’s assistant parks superintendent. “Now people feel comfortable going to that park.”
The playground discussion began in 2014 when city officials announced plans to build a fully accessible, “barrier-free” playground next to the shelter house in Brittingham Park. Also proposed was a new “nature-based” playground that would replace an existing, traditional-style playground near the community gardens. A third, traditional-style playground was planned near Brittingham Beach.
That might sound fine to someone outside the neighborhood, but Mary Berryman Agard, president of the nonprofit Bayview Foundation, says the proposed setup was out of step with the needs of the children and families in the area, because it ignored their cultural preferences.
“There was an insensitivity in the way it was working,” she says.
There are nearly 140 children living in nearby housing complexes known as the Triangle, which is close to the gardens and the site of the current playground, whose traditional style is “strongly preferred” by the residents. There are far fewer children living near the Brittingham Beach area of the park, so moving a beloved play structure to that area “made very little sense,” Berryman Agard says.
Many Hmong parents and elders enjoy tending the community gardens and appreciate having the play area nearby so they can keep an eye on the children.
Neighborhood residents made their case to city officials at a series of public input meetings in 2014 and 2015. Rutledge says she was “a bit surprised” by the strong, culture-based preferences, but the playground design team was receptive to the input.
Meeting notices were posted in Spanish and Hmong, and interpreters were present to translate for the residents. City staff made a point to hold the input sessions at meeting spaces close to the neighborhood, and they worked with neighborhood leaders to spread the word and encourage attendance, Rutledge says. A new analytical framework, called the Racial Equity and Social Justice Tool, also helped guide the process.
“We were able to more clearly hear their voices,” Rutledge says. In the revised plan, the nature-based playground will be near Brittingham Beach, the barrier-free playground will be near the park shelter and a new and improved traditional-style playground will replace the current structure near the gardens.
Rutledge says the process has helped the parks department understand the need to “do more” to make sure the voices of community members are heard.
“If cultures use parks differently, we want to know that,” she says. “We want to build our parks in a way that best serves the community.”
