Washington Park Neighborhood Preservation and Enhancement Dist.

"His Heart's in His Home"

May 26, 2003

Celebrations
GB SUNDAY, MAY 18. 2003

His heart?’s in his home
Advocate keeps watchful eye on Washington Park
BY JERRY LIBONATI


Eugene Franklin never thought he?’d be president of anything, but at 48 he is at the helm of a number of organizations, including the Washington Park Civic Association.
Franklin spends days operating heavy construction equipment and his off-time pushing to improve his hometown.
Franklin was delivered by the now- famous Dr. James Sistrunk at Provident Hospital, the black hospital in then-segregated Fort Lauderdale.
?“Yes, I?’ve seen a lot of changes,?” Franklin muses. ?“I was raised in that area near Sistrunk and Seventh Avenue... Over where the post office is, it used to be a hotel and all the neighborhoods had alleys. And in this particular alley people would throw tin cans in it and everybody called it Tin Can Alley.?”
When Franklin and his wife, Vivian, were ready to purchase a home six years ago, he remembered his grand?­father?’s house in Washington Park, south of Sunrise Boulevard between Northwest 27th Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. They bought a house up the street, and what he found in the neighborhood turned him into an activist.
?“There were a lot of vacant lots back then... I asked questions and found
out where the association was holding its meetings and I started opening my mouth, and they asked me if I would be a public relations person,?” Franklin said.
He noticed redevelopment occurring in neighborhoods like his and asked why similar changes were not happening in Washington Park.
?“We were on the books for neighborhood development but a lot of the money was going to parks and recreation instead of to the residents. And the residents weren?’t informed about the oppo~unities... I thought it was time I stepped up to the plate.?”
Franklin let the county and the city know Washington Park was interes?­ted in redevelopment. As a result, in 1995 the association asked him to be president, to which he agreed.
The association is helping establish a boardwalk along the north fork of the New River that runs through eight unincorporated neighborhoods.
?“We want to tie the neighborhoods in with walk paths, bike paths and sidewalks so they can get on the boardwalk. And we?’re hoping Fort Lauderdale will continue it downtown to the River Walk.?”
Franklin also is president of the Washington Park Neighborhood Preservation and Enhancement Dis?­trict, chairperson of the Municipal Services Advisory Board that informs the county about safety and welfare issues, an advisory board member of the Community Action Agency, a member of Broward Urban River Trails and a recent nominee for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Community Service Award for 2003.
The civic work he does is an issue between him and his wife of 10 years.
?“She gets worried because I have some health issues such as weakness of heart. And 1 had surgery for cancer, which is gone now. That?’s a big load off my mind. She knows I?’m involved, and she prays everything works out. She?’s been very supportive, and I don?’t know if I can do it all without her?” Franklin said.


.Jerry Libonati can be reached at jlibonatiQi sun-sen tinel.com, or
954-572-2014.