Lucas Park Cleanup Inspires Similar Effort for Amberg Park

The recent efforts of downtown residents to tidy up Lucas Park has inspired at least one group in the city to tackle issues in their own neighborhood park. Amberg Park, located on Gustine South of Chippewa, will see a group effort on October 18, 2008. One of the organizers acknowledges the recent efforts in Lucas Park as inspiring their own project.

Technically Amberg Park is listed by the city as being in the Duchtown neighborhood. Dutchtown is its own neighborhood among the 79 listed by the city. You also have the Dutchtown South Community Corp (a CDC) which encompass not only Duchtown but also the neighborhoods of Gravois Park, Marine Villa and Mt Pleasant. Duchtown, the neighborhood, is geographically so large that residents have for years sliced it up into smaller, more manageable neighborhood units; Dutchtown North, Resurrection, & Trinity. Interestingly the Dutchtown Community Corp is located not in the Dutchtown neighborhood but on the corner of the Mt Pleasant neighborhood. You also have the Downtown Dutchtown Business Association.

So back to Amberg Park. It is in that part of Dutchtown listed as in the Resurrection neighborhood on the Dutchtown website. But efforts are also underway to give this area an identity. A site for the ‘Dutchtown Amberg Neighborhood Association’ has been created as has an Amberg Park Cleanup blog.

Rick Bonash over at STL Rising picked up on the new association based on a comment left here on UrbanReviewSTL. Bonash also linked to a recent Suburban Journal article by Jim Merkel on the new group that is forming. An undertone in the article is about the long-time residents and more recent arrivals. I know from my own personal experience, if you were not born & raised in the neighborhood or haven’t lived there since Eisenhower was President you are a newcomer. This attitude is really unfortunate because a lot of people may have ideas and want to contribute but are discouraged from doing so.

Some in an old guard praised the leadership of the group. But they have their concerns about youthful enthusiasm of the organization led by Chris Wintrode, 24, a St. Louis University law and masters in health administration student. They said the group isn’t really new, but the continuation of an organization that long met at the former Resurrection Church, 3880 Meramec St.

Kirner also said the group is the continuation of the old Resurrection Neighborhood Support organization that long met at resurrection as part of the church and community umbrella organization Churches United for Community Concerns. Pat Sullivan, 75, a lifelong neighborhood resident who has led the organization, said that Chris Wintrode and others essentially came in and took over meetings.

I see, by saying it is a continuation of an old organization that diminishes the new effort. Kirner is Dorothy Kirner who defeated me for 25th Ward Alderman in March 2005, she was an incumbent. Her term expires in April 2009.

Personally I’m glad to see a new crop of residents take some action to actually do something, anything.
I’ll be stopping by Amberg Park after 10am on the 18th to see how the cleanup project is going.