Flocks of youth will soon replace the geese inhabiting Nystrom’s mostly abandoned Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in the heart of Richmond. The park is getting a brand new sports field with professional turf thanks to a $200,000 grant made through the National Football League Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL’s Youth Football Fund and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).
Kicking off the partnership at a groundbreaking ceremony on August 11, Oakland Raiders legend Jim Otto and the Raiderettes presented a check to the Richmond Children’s Foundation and the City of Richmond before nearly 100 local youth, community members and supporters.
The new field will provide a safe and reliable space for local teams and physical education programs based at two nearby schools. As in many low-income neighborhoods, youth teams in Richmond lack space for practice and games and are often shuffled around. “We won’t have to search for where we’re going to play,” said Mark Torres, president of the Richmond Eagles youth football team. “It’s security in a community that needs security.”
When the field is completed in Fall 2010, it will host an estimated 48,630 player visits a year – a dramatic increase from the current level of less than 1000 visits. Besides football, the new field will accommodate soccer and track and field, popular sports in the area. The Association of Sports Field Users and Richmond’s Parks Department will oversee design and construction, slated to begin in December.
The new field “symbolizes more than just football,” according to Eagles coach Ray Jackson. In an area facing high rates of poverty, unemployment, youth violence and obesity, he said that the field can be a "beacon of light,” “a safe haven" and a place where youth can “learn proper nutrition [and] how to communicate with each other.”
The groundbreaking marks the first phase in a multi-year effort to renovate MLK Park as part of a broader neighborhood revitalization initiative. Designed with the participation of youth leaders from Kennedy High School and other local residents, the refurbished park will also include recreational space for seniors and families, a renovated community center, an outdoor amphitheater, a play space for toddlers, resurfaced basketball and tennis courts, and new lighting and landscaping. "Parks are like magnets; they bring people out in ways they can connect with their community," City Manager Bill Lindsey said at the groundbreaking. "This is the beginning of a complete neighborhood transition.”
