When West University Place City Council recently nixed buying three properties on Mercer Street for parkland, it possibly passed on the “best last chance” for another city park, the city’s parks board chairman says.
“This is the last remaining sizable tract of land in that area,” Parks Board Chairman John Wilkinson said. “It’s up to council to decide what they want to do next.”
I recently saw a large corner lot cleared for construction on the east side of Mercer a block away from the proposed park site. It looked ideal to me for a park like the one on the old JMH College property. West University still has a large number of older houses that will become available for purchase by the city for parks. Naming a new park after someone who donates or who offers to sell land at an attractive price would be an incentive.