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April 27, 2005
Neighborhood activist tells story of change
Rockwell Park, once a neglected
rural area, now has 14-acre park
CELESTE SMITH
Staff Writer
When it came time for the
Rockwell
Park
community to suggest a name for its new park, people thought of Thereasea
Clark Elder right away.
The 78-year-old retired county
nurse has logged countless hours making the community a better, safer
place to live.
Over the years Elder tapped her
knowledge of local government to keep her predominantly black neighborhood
from being overlooked. That meant warning her neighbors to drink bottled
water, and not tap, when their well water was suspected of carrying
harmful pollutants in the 1980s.
When
Charlotte
annexed
Rockwell
Park
in the late 1980s -- clearing the way for water and sewer lines to finally
come -- she lobbied for financial assistance to help homeowners pay the
thousands of dollars needed to cover connection fees.
She spoke up for paved roads and
sidewalks. And she continued pushing county officials for a neighborhood
park.
The 14-acre park, with walking
trails, a park shelter, basketball court and water fountains, formally
opens May 7 with a celebration starting at 10 a.m. featuring music, food,
vendors, and games. The park is next to the
Rockwell
AME
Zion
Church
, which is at
6301 Rockwell Church Road
near
West Sugar Creek Road
.
Elder talks about her
neighborhood's challenges over the years to get amenities, including the
park. Her words have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Safe
drinking water
My late husband and I were born
and raised in the
Greenville
community in
Charlotte
. Everybody took care of everybody else. There were no social services, no
welfare. The neighbors did it. All my life, that was instilled in us. We
are our brother's keeper, and you don't finish until you take that last
breath.When I moved out here to
Rockwell
Park
around 1956 it was really country -- chicken, goats, cows and snakes, and
country roads. People had wells. There was a septic tank up the road
flowing into people's water system. I did public health nursing for 30
years. They came out and did an environmental impact study on the water
supply because they knew me. They found bacteria, cancer-causing elements.
That's when we started using bottled water. Then after we became a part of
the city, the water and sewer lines came in.
Paved
streets, a place to play
You don't know what we went
through for paved streets. We had been on the list to get sidewalks and
paved streets when we came into the city in 1988. We were told we were at
the top of the list. We just got it three years ago.
I keep talking and keep
complaining, making pictures of whatever the problem is, and talking to
them. We're surrounded by a lot of growth in homes, a lot of apartments
and condos. If
Rockwell
Park
doesn't develop and become as viable as the other communities are, we will
be swallowed up.
The county had already promised us
a park for umpteen years -- since the early 1990s. We went to every park
and rec meeting for I don't know how long. We asked for a park before
others in the area were built. When I was pleading for the park, I told
county commissioners that the county planned to spend money to track birds
and build dog parks. We needed exercise for kids and adults. Exercise and
moving is part of your intellectual growth.
`I
was just really humbled'
The community went to several
meetings at
Rockwell
Park
AME
Zion
Church
to design the park. We asked for walking trails, water fountains and
lights, lights, lights. Lights at night are the only thing that save
neighborhood parks from drugs, sex and bad things.
Ida McCauley, one of the
neighbors, pushed for the park to be named after me and started a
petition. I wanted it named after a young girl in the community.
Most people don't even know how to
pronounce my name. It doesn't bother me at all, I'm used to it. It's
THERE-a-see (with the first R trilled), but I say Teresa (Ter EE sa),
because most people won't say that. (Elder's first name is misspelled on
the park sign.)
I
was just really humbled but very appreciative that she and the community
would consider naming the park for me. There aren't too many parks in the
county named after people. I'm really looking for surrounding communities
to be a part of the park and use it.
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