CHARLESTON, W.Va.— Mayor Amy Goodwin joined the Wertz avenue community to help them celebrate the opening of their new park with a spooktacular ribbon cutting Tuesday evening in Charleston.
The new park is a dedication to the old school that used to sit where the park sits now. In 2022, after the old school was tore down, Mayor Goodwin requested that the Charleston Land Reuse Agency seek public opinion on what should be put into the school’s place. Public input was gathered by door-to-door outreach and survey’s and the main the community wanted was something where the kids could play, the parents could sit to watch their kids play and a picnic area for community gatherings.
Mayor Amy Goodwin talks at ribbon cutting for Wertz avenue’s new community park
Goodwin and the Charleston council members voted on the funding, and she said that the decision was easy.
“It was a unanimous decision, I mean take a look around this was a unanimous decision,” Goodwin said. “Parks are expensive, maintenance of parks are expensive but they are far in a way the best investment that any municipality can make, not only in Charleston but in the state of West Virginia.”
And the funding has paid off, the kids in just a short amount of time are already loving their new park.
“Since I’ve been here, every child, every child over the past half hour has said this is my park, my park, come see my park,” Goodwin said.
And while it took them a little bit to build, one thing was constantly on their mind, safety.
“Wertz avenue is really heavily trafficked road, so we had to take in consideration the safety of this park, that’s why you see a lot of our fencing here,” Goodwin said. “It took us a little longer than we had anticipated or hoped, but we wanted to get it right. We wanted to make sure that there were sidewalks, we wanted to make sure that there was parking.”
The park has two new playground structures, a swing set that includes bay swings and an accessible swing, picnic tables, benches and shade systems, two restroom facilities, fencing, grill, parking, resurfaced basketball court with adjustable basketball hoops, updated lighting, and updated asphalt.
And to Goodwin, her favorite thing about the opening of the park is, now the kids have a place to play.
“You know we tell our kids all of the time to go outside and play, if we’re going to tell them that by golly, we better make a place for them to go outside and play, and this is it,” Goodwin said.
Kids came dressed up for the costume contest, and after the ribbon cutting, they were able to enjoy a scavenger hunt, pumpkin decorating, face painting, and crafts.