Metro Parks highlights security guards, warming centers and cultural-arts shifts in annual update

Stevon Mellems, presenting the annual update for wellness, community recreation and cultural arts, told the board that the department’s most impactful change this year was hiring security guards at community centers with dedicated funding highlighted on the mayor’s office Instagram.

Mellems cited two incidents handled by a contracted officer, identified as CPO Clemens: a Narcan administration that revived a person who had passed out in a lobby and discovery of a deceased person behind a community center. He said those events showed the value of on-site security and quicker, safer incident response.

"We're more than recreational. We're essential," Mellems said, describing community centers as hubs for services in addition to recreation. He listed program highlights including expansion of after-school programming, after-school meal program growth, and three warming centers established at Southeast, Bellevue and Madison community centers to assist residents affected by the recent winter storm.

Mellems also described cultural-arts adaptations after the collapse of West Park Gymnasium: visual-arts staff moved pottery equipment to Centennial Park, performing-arts activity relocated to Morgan Community Center, and the department opened a new pottery studio at Old Hickory Community Center. He noted theater lighting upgrades that reduced costs and improved safety.

Board members commended improvements at Coleman Park, expressed appreciation for staff responsiveness after the West Park incident, and welcomed the expansion of programming and upcoming site reopenings.