WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY:

PARK.  (1).  a public area of land, having facilities for recreation.

               (2). an enclosed area or stadium used for SPORTS.

Mitchell Park. (1). an unusable piece of art. due to extreme heat during the day; and complete      

                                 darkness at night (AKA 9pm).  No exercise is welcome or possible here.

                           (2). apparently an extension of Bruce's backyard.

MR DURDEN (AKA 'BILLY')

THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF PARKS, RECREATION AND SPORTS. SUGGEST YOU THINK ABOUT IT, MAYBE MAKE SOME LISTS, MAYBE GO TO A FEW PARKS, LIKE AROUND THE WORLD, GET SOME PERSPECTIVE.

THE KIND OF PARK THAT MITCHELL PARK BECOMES,WITH THE FORMS OF RECREATION AND SPORTS IT WILL HAVE WILL BE INFORMED BY THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY AS SOME POINT. I'M SURE THE PROCESS WILL BE AS INCLUSIVE AS POSSIBLE. IT WILL NOT REFLECT ONE SINGLE OPINION. AT THAT TIME IT MAY BECOME APPARENT TO YOU, AND MANY OTHERS THAT THE CHOICES ARE ALMSOT LIMITLESS AND VARIED AND IT MAY PRODUCE BETTER PARK DESIGN. IN FACT IT PROBABLY WILL. I HAVE EVERY CONFIDENCE IN THE MAJORITY OF YOUR NEIGHBORS BEING ABLE TO INTELLIGENTLY AND CREATIVELY WORK TOWARD A COMMON GOAL.

I ATTENDED/PARTICIPATED ALL OF THE CLARK PARK MASTER PLAN MEETINGS, IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE AND THE NEIGHBORS IN CLARK PARK WERE VERY PLEASED WITH THE SOLUTION. CLARK PARK IS NOT A NEIGHBORHOOD PARK, IT IS ONE STEP IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF HIGHER USE.

I WOULD LOAN YOU A FEW BOOKS ON THE DESIGN OF PARKS, I COLLECTED THEM WHEN I WAS ACTUALLY WORKING ON THE DESIGN OF A COUPLE PARKS YEARS AGO. BUT I'M IN THE PROCESS OF DONATING MY ART/ARCHITECTURE COLLECTION OF BOOKS TO A LOCAL LIBRARY. SO GUESS YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE SOME EXTRA EFFORT TO VISIT THE TEMPE PUBLIC LIBRARY OR OTHER TO DO YOUR RESEARCH.

THE HISTORY OF MITCHELL PARK IS ONE OF NEIGHBORHOOD INVOLVEMENT AT IT'S BEST.

-MARK LYMER

Here's the text of an email sent to, I believe, all of the people who participated in the public meetings last month and provided the City with an email address during sign-in.  The short of it is that the City is assiduously working on developing and installing the changes that will retain the nighttime accessibility of the courts and resolve the light trespass.  Much thanks to all at the City for their willingness to work with the Neighborhood and Park users on this.

Mitchell Park neighbors,

Thank you for attending the June public meetings regarding the basketball lighting at Mitchell Park.  At the second meeting, city staff agreed to update the residents in attendance on any progress made to what was agreed upon in the meeting.  Below is an update from Parks and Recreation Manager Mark Richwine, please direct any questions to him.  Once any changes are finalized, the city will communicate them to the entire neighborhood.

Thanks,

Shauna Warner
Neighborhood Services Director

Mitchell Park Basketball Lighting Update – July 6, 2009

The Parks and Recreation Department has turned over specifications for the court surfacing material to the City’s procurement office.  The cost of the two courts exceeds $5,000 which is the maximum amount for departmental purchasing.  The procurement office will solicit pricing from qualified vendors.  Once a final price quote is received, staff will work with the successful vendor on scheduling installation.  The total price will not require Council approval.  Pending the availability of the vendor, the work is anticipated to be completed by mid-August.

The department’s lighting design consultant was on vacation the last two weeks on June, but has been working on the project since his return.  He has previously designed lighting systems for the City of Scottsdale as described in the last public meeting.  He is working on a similar design for Mitchell that separates the two courts for individual timers (both courts are controlled by one timer currently), introduces a visual warning prior to turning lights off at a pre-determined interval, and limits the time of use on both courts each night.

The lighting designer has also modeled the court lighting using both external and internal shields for the existing fixtures.  Both methods still produced a lighting outcome that complies with the Illumination Engineering Society (IES) recommendations.  City staff is working on a design for an external shield to attach to the lighting to test the effectiveness in reducing glare.  Once a concept for the external shield is developed, city staff will work with the neighborhood to schedule a demonstration.  It is anticipated that the demonstration will be ready by the third week in July.

Should the concept yield satisfactory results, staff will fabricate additional shields for the remaining lights.  If the shield does not produce acceptable results, additional alternatives as discussed at the public meeting will be explored

Mark Richwine, Manager
Tempe Parks and Recreation Department
3500 S. Rural Road
Tempe, AZ  85282
480.350.5325
mark_richwine@tempe.gov

"the site allows people to pick a nic-name or 'aka'. it is peoples right to do so. not yours to say they have to. the intention is to have more communication. if using a call name or other is more comfortable for some, what's the difference?"

                                                                                   MARK LYMER (AKA tool bag)

Mark

    Feel free to read your own words listed above! does the word "hypocrite" come to mind?

TYLER DURDEN (AKA Billy)

You are assuming that Tyler Durden and Billy are the same person! Even if that was true: I'm pretty sure it's not your job to divulge this information.

                                                                                           Tyler Durden