Hello, we are the Friends of Reynolds Park

Reynolds Park is stepping out and wants your love and friendship! The Friends of Reynolds Park facebook page is just waiting for you to click “like” and be part of the conversation. 

The big news is that we exist, we are the Friends of Reynolds Park. I failed to show up on time to a meeting and am now President of the group. It’s a one-year term and I expect my post will be hotly contested in 2015.

You may have noticed the new playground equipment at Reynolds Park. For months before the ground froze, a few of us who had expressed interest in the playground found ourselves learning about the local processes of working with the city Parks Department, getting excited about the range of playground styles out there, and finding new allies within the neighborhood (Huge thanks goes to Ken Saiki and associates for invaluable input). The conversations and connections were interesting and we’ve continued to dream, envisioning Reynolds Park as a thriving and innovative neighborhood greenspace that serves residents of all ages. 

At the 2013 block party, we hung some modest posters asking for input from neighbors. The take-away was that people would like more things to do in the park. 

In the months since, we’ve been attending meetings, talking with Alder Zellers and other city planners, and have decided it made sense to form something more official, a “Friends” group. As Friends of Reynolds Park, we hope to attract more people and voices into the discussion about the future for the park and the neighborhood. And as a Friends group, we would like to serve as spokespeople for the park when larger plans for the area are considered.

We have also been collaborating with the Friends of James Madison Park. Both James Madison and Reynolds parks are important assets in the neighborhood. They are merely two blocks from each other and offer complimentary uses to the community. Knowing the increased density in the neighborhood will naturally increase use of both parks, a combined planning process makes sense.

At a meeting in late January, Reynolds Park was added to an existing Master Planning request proposal for James Madison Park. This document is now being presented to various stakeholder groups for input and their support.

The Master Planning process and the Friends of Reynolds Park group are seen as two strategies for making our home-grown ideas part of the larger discussion about Madison’s future. We are having fun and welcome more ideas. Thanks for taking a sec to “like” the Friends of Reynolds Park page on Facebook, and we look forward to you joining in on the conversation!