Vacant Lot Playgroup Update

A group that formed at the 2008 Summit has been working very hard to promote the use of vacant lots and “passive parks” as natural playspaces, and to create such spaces.

Last month they met with city officials as well as Bill Dawson from the Franklin Park Conservatory.

Now they are planning a tour of a natural play area and garden in February, a strategic planning session in March, and a bus tour of city vacant lots in April!

Here are the full meeting notes:

Vacant lot playgroup Meeting
Action for Children
January 7, 2009
Attending: Betsy Loeb, Alice Hohl, SueAlexander, Kezia Sproat, Colleen Sharkey, Jennifer Kramer, Sharon Tinianow

Updates since our last meeting:
Jennifer passed around a contact list which she will update and distribute via email Kezia and Alice met with Donna Hunter (City of Columbus) about our concept for creating natural play spaces on vacant city lots; Donna was very supportive and asked us to add John Turner and Don Headapohl to the contact list Colleen met with Bill Dawson at Franklin Park conservatory; he had lots of suggestions for us (if you have not seen the notes from that meeting, let Colleen know so she can send them to you) Colleen also spoke with Michael Johnson of Local Matters; they are working with six schools in Columbus to create outdoor playspaces; Michael is open to collaboration and sharing of experiences

Next steps: Colleen will talk with Susan Weber about setting up a meeting in February at the MRDD play space that Susan helped design; Susan thinks that we could meet with the school administrators at that time if we want to
Betsy will talk to Metro Parks about the use of one of their lodges for a strategic planning session in March;
Betsy will use Meeting Wizard to explore possible dates of March 12, 18, or 19; time would be from 9:30 am ‘“ 4 pm;
Betsy will also contact a possible facilitator;
Kezia may be able to provide some funding through SCOPS;
Sharon can ask Joe Heimlich to facilitate if needed; this will be a great time to choose a catchy name for our group!
Sharon will talk to Dan Headapohl (City of Columbus) about a tour of some potential sites for natural play spaces in April (avoiding the spring holidays)

Other news: Don’t forget the Ohio Parks and Rec conference on Jan 14 at the Convention Center
Kezia told us about an interesting program at the Lucy Hayes Heritage Center in Chillocothe on Feb. 1
Check out the Weezie’s Garden website
We should tap into the neighborhood liaison program of the Columbus Police Department; they might be very supportive of our ideas
Fun Fact from Alice: the stick was named to the National Toy Hall of Fame, look for a blurb in the next Kids and Nature newsletter.
Also check out the new children’s book Sharon and Jennifer found at the library following our meeting: Not A Stick by Antoinette Portis