Everyone's Planning For McIntire

Recently as it becomes clear that the parkway is imminent, the vultures have started circling. It seems clear that all kinds of groups have their own ideas about what McIntire Park should be and who it should serve. There are those that charaterize the area as a pristine haven for wildlife in the middle of our city, that should be preserved "as is". The point I've made to them is that the area currently choked with many invasive species, and just "letting things go" is not a viable option. Even if the park is to be returned to greenspace with trails and trees, then that has to happen through a process of active management (which will require funds and resources, just like any other project). Whatever the primary use, I do agree that any use should include improved and expanded greenspace.

Then there are those that champion keeping the golf course even if it is reduced in size. To me this makes no sense. The Meadowcreek course at Pen Park was created as the replacement for McIntire years ago. When that happened, huge areas of greenspace were destroyed including a significant number of trails. At the time there was a great deal of citizen protest, including myself, who ran cross country on that course. In response, it was promised that this course was the replacement for the aging course at McIntire, and McIntire would be redeveloped as trails. It has been a very long time since I first heard that promise, and it has been RTF, not the parks that have made any progress towards that goal whatsoever. There are also those who propose that we should build a new golf course somewhere else. While that's not completely unreasonable, especially if the land was donated, golf courses in general are still a very intensive and exclusive use of property. At least a soccor field can be used for something else when people aren't playing soccor. They don't even let people walk on a golf course who aren't playing golf, not even sometimes. With so many private courses, it seems a bit hard to justify such an exclusive use of a very large space; plus, if a new course is built then it would probably, by necessity, be more expensive than the one at Penn Park is now.

Then, you have the folks who are demanding that the wading pool be preserved. Don't get me wrong, I have a toddler myself and will probably be seeking out good places to take her this summer, but even if this pool was renovated it would not be my first option. The new water features at several Albemarle and City parks seem to me to be far superior. Futhermore, this pool is evidently leaking a significant amount of water. The Daily Progress suggested that they put over a million gallons per year into that pool. In this age of water conservation, that really doesn't seem very responsible. If a community wading pool is needed, then we should make the investment to build a new one, not dump money and resources down the drain of an old one.

While I've never been for the parkway, I think that it does provide an opportunity for us as a community to really rethink this whole space. While I do feel that history is important, and people have a connection to things like the wading pool they played in as a kid, or their favorite golf course, there is a larger public interest here that should be considered. Currently this is a very large space right in the middle of the city that is underutilized. While I am part of a group that has proposed that a botanical garden be located at McIntire, we're not committed to that site at all. I'd be delighted to get an offer to do it at Moven instead, and it then UVa would benefit from the educational programs it could offer it's students and the many research opportunities, and the Botanical Garden would benefit from the expertise of UVa including biologists, landscape architects, and ecologists. In many ways, a site like Moven would be far better suited to a botanical garden than McIntire would. That said, many people in the community have championed that location, so I'm willing to explore it until there is a better option. Besides, I'd like to see the city benefit from the increased revenue and tourism.

For me, what is critical for McIntire is that we, as a community, bring some vision into the process so that we can all see beyond our own pet projects and interests and do something with the park that will be used by a wide spectrum of the public, and will enhance our community. I can easily make the argument that the best use is a botanical garden, but I could easily argue other options as well (like restored green space, picnic areas, and trails). I'm no where near as committed to my own vision and the botanical garden, than I am to the idea that this should be a community space we can all be proud of, and that really will be the jewel of our city parks. To me, preserving an ancient leaking pool and small underused golf course is lacking in vision.