Thomas Jefferson Park: A Hub For Gatherings

Thomas Jefferson park is located on the east side between 110^th and 114^th St., and is one of the main hubs for sports activities within the community. However, outside of that the park generally felt lacking, and there are some flaws in it that could be improved upon.

The site that I decided to visit is Thomas Jefferson park, which was observed on both a weekend afternoon, (Sunday 12:30pm-2:30pm) and a weekday afternoon. (Monday 12:30p-1:30pm) One of the main things I noticed is that the park is very divided, and there isn’t really a large stretch of grass to relax in, aside from one small section in between two baseball fields. Each section had a different amenity, like a swimming pool (which is closed at this time of year) or a soccer field. Both times I was there there were various groups of people playing sports, such as soccer or Frisbee, however these were contained in the appropriate subsections. Overall there was a good amount of people on Sunday, and, although less than the day before, Monday had a decently sized group of people in the park as well. Turnover rates were low, however, as unless you were doing an organized activity the park lacked features. There were some benches around, but aside from a few people using it for a short break they were generally empty. For the most part kids/teens made up the majority of the park, as the playground was the most active area by far. The overall quality of the site was under average; however, it wasn’t bad enough to warrant a change. (There wasn’t any litter, just the ground looked unkempt and wild, which does have its own unique aesthetic in a way.) There were some renovations being done on the basketball courts near 114^th street, which is a good sign.

Overall I’d say that the site is being used quite well, however it does have one glaring issue in that it has 3 baseball fields, when in fact during both my visits only 1 was used once, so they could potentially remove one of the three and make room for something else. I asked five random people what they would like in the park should one of the baseball fields be removed, and three of them said that they would prefer an extra open grassy place to have a picnic under or just relax, as the current picnic spots were generally under trees and fairly cramped, although they did have outside barbeque grills installed. I think this is a good idea, to have an open grassy area reminiscent of Central Park, as it would provide the nearby community with an extra place to gather, instead of having to use the soccer field.