Second Ward is getting 2nd chance

By DON HUDSON

With no uptown arena in the works for Third Ward now, and development of the Hal Marshall Center in Fourth Ward still being negotiated, the focus uptown shifted to Second Ward last week.

It's been a long time.

Back before urban renewal in the 1960s, the quarter was a black neighborhood called Brooklyn. Since then, it's been a wasteland of government buildings, parking lots and an urban park no one uses.

About 80 people went to two public meetings Wednesday and Thursday nights to brainstorm ideas for turning the area back into a neighborhood, this time as a high-density urban area of homes, parks, shops and restaurants.

Earlier this year, the city contracted with Land Design to talk with stakeholders and lead a redesign of the area.

The debate has been complex and sometimes contentious, often more because of political correctness than substance. First, you have supporters of the Metro School, who were adamant about not moving the school for students with mental and emotional disabilities. They've backed off some, hearing that an improved Metro School would still located in Second Ward.

Next, First Baptist Church has its agenda to limit traffic and keep its blocks safe.

Then you have people like Barbara Davis Crawford, who grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Second Ward High School in 1962. She wants the old Second Ward High gym - now used by the Metro School - to be saved as an alumni house. "It's part of the history," Crawford said.

I appreciate her argument.

Some 30 years ago, when I was a Boy Scout with Troop 120 at Avondale Presbyterian Church, we went uptown to help rip down a "slum" called Brooklyn. I don't think I got a merit badge for "urban removal," but I'd like to see Brooklyn remembered, too.

The overriding problem is that Second Ward's valuable land is not on the tax rolls and doesn't provide housing. I appreciate the sentiments expressed by all sides, but it's time to grasp a larger vision.

Two designs came out of last week's session. They will be combined into one in January, then presented publicly.

One, called Brooklyn Squares, features small parks like you see in Savannah, Ga., surrounded by townhouses, restaurants and mid-rise apartments. The other uses Stonewall Street as a boulevard, with a new location for the Metro School and a new high school. A large park anchors the area.

Both plans relocate the education center across Third Street, breaking up the superblocks and adding housing.

Another idea was to save a portion of Marshall Park as a plaza for retail, restaurants and possibly entertainment. Not only would it serve the new townhouses and apartments, it also would draw workers across Third Street from the government complex.

I like that one, because private money is involved quickly.

Whatever gets built should memorialize Brooklyn, create affordable housing and help the Metro School. But beyond that, everyone needs to keep an open mind. The point is to get better schools and homes.