Cannon Park scores some new amenities

The new picnic shelter at A.M. Cannon Park didn’t sit empty for long: on Friday neighborhood activists and city officials gathered for cake and punch to celebrate the many improvements to the park.

“This is just amazing,” said Brenda Corbett, chairwoman of the West Central Neighborhood Council. “We have a brand new picnic shelter that was paid for in part by community development funds, we have a new basketball court and we have nets for our tennis courts.”

When the pool was remodeled and expanded, the old and much used basketball courts were torn down. Hoopfest donated the new $13,500 basketball court. And on Friday balls were already being dribbled on the concrete.

“This is one of the best parts of my job,” said Keli Riley, administrative assistant for Hoopfest, at the ribbon-cutting event. “I look forward to all the wonderful things that will happen in the park here now. But we couldn’t have done it without the city and the parks department.”

A.M. Cannon Park is bursting at the seams with activities: the new pool opened June 14, there’s a baseball diamond, tennis courts and horseshoe pits.

“I think horseshoes are coming back,” said Leroy Eadie, director of the city’s parks department, jokingly. “The pits here look great, they stand out; they are just a great addition to the park.”

City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin had lots of praise for Corbett and other neighborhood activists.

“It is women like Brenda, and others just like her, who make things happen,” McLaughlin said. “That old attitude of ‘we can’t do anything here’ is no longer.”

Officials, neighbors and park department staff lined up for cutting of the very long ribbon – it reached from the picnic shelter to the basketball court – before the cake was cut.

“This is what we want here,” Corbett said about all the park improvements. “This is for families and that’s what we want here in the park.”