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Highland Park parks director outlines upgrades, recalls rec center’s role as COVID vaccination hub
Summary
The director of Highland Park Parks and Recreation summarized efforts to maintain eight city parks, run the Ernest T. Ford Field House ("Hackett"), launch an adopt-a-park program and seek a Spark grant to add a playscape and repair baseball diamonds; she also said the rec center served as a COVID-19 vaccination hub when the city had no pharmacies.
The director of the Parks and Recreation Department described ongoing efforts to repair and improve Highland Park’s eight parks and the Ernest T. Ford Field House, known locally as Hackett, and said the rec center served as a COVID-19 vaccination hub when the city had no pharmacies.
The director said the department aims to provide “a usable green space within a 10 minute walk of everyone's home” and has pursued small upgrades across parks, an adopt-a-park volunteer program, and partnerships with nonprofits and neighborhood groups to handle maintenance such as planting and trash pickup. “We became a vaccination hub since there were no pharmacies in Highland Park,” she said, adding that the center coordinated with Detroit-area authorities during the pandemic.
Officials plan to use funds from a Spark grant, which the director said has gone out to bid, to add a playscape at the rec center and to repair baseball diamonds. She described the work as part of a broader effort to bring “health, socialization, and just fun to the community” through programs and facility improvements.
The director said she retired from the City of Detroit after 33 years and began at Highland Park in October 2016. She highlighted programming for seniors, including a technology class in which participants learned to use QR codes to shop at Kroger, and said those small improvements have been meaningful to residents.
The department’s adopt-a-park initiative enlists nonprofits and community groups to perform small maintenance tasks to stretch a limited budget, the director said. She did not provide a timeline for the Spark grant-funded work or a detailed budget breakdown.
The discussion reported concerns about limited city funds and emphasized partnerships and volunteer help as the department’s main strategy for maintaining park usability.
Looking ahead, the director said the department will proceed with the Spark grant bid process and continue expanding volunteer partnerships to keep parks maintained and accessible.
