Chickasaw Park improvements are coming. But it shouldn't take shooting to prompt maintenance.

One year ago, shots were fired into a crowd gathered at Chickasaw Park just after dark, killing Deaji Goodman, 28, and David Huff, 27 and injuring four others.

It was Louisville’s second mass shooting that week, proving once again that Louisville is no different from the rest of the country. Gun violence truly is our nation’s great equalizer – our undeniable American horror.

Thanks to lawmakers' continuing stubbornness, nothing real has happened to show Kentuckians that curbing gun violence in the commonwealth is an actual legislative priority.

The General Assembly has tied our hands when it comes to getting guns off of Louisville streets. Mayor Craig Greenberg wants to destroy confiscated guns, but the law requires guns to be auctioned by Kentucky State Police. Legislators passed the Safer Kentucky Bill last month, which included allowing guns used in a homicide to be destroyed but only if someone fills out a form before they bid on the gun at auction.

Kentucky remains the wrong kind of sanctuary.

While lawmakers drag their feet on implementing better gun laws, there is one important way we can help safeguard our public spaces against violent crime – keep them properly maintained.

Parks are supposed to be a safe place

West Louisville Tennis Club president, Aretha Fuqua, EdD, wasn’t there the night of the shooting, but Chickasaw Park is where she plays tennis almost every day. “This park is our home,” she told me on the phone.

Parks are supposed to be a safe place, a resource in our community where people come together and enjoy the outdoors. Fuqua remembers the lights hadn't been working at the time of the shooting. A spring storm took them out and “light is a deterrent,” she stressed, “this happened under the cloak of darkness.”

One year ago: I lost Tommy Elliott, my forever person, in the Old National Bank mass shooting

Metro Parks spokesperson Jon Reiter told me via email that Metro Council also identified lighting as a safety issue in Chickasaw Park after the shooting and "began making improvements immediately." The new LED lights operate with photocell technology. They turn off at dawn and come on at dusk.

“Sometimes," Fuqua said, "the solution is just that simple.”

Chickasaw Park was the first and only Olmsted Park in the United States designed specifically for Black people during segregation. "There is incredible history within the park," Mayor Greenberg said via email, "We know that investing in our parks improves the quality of life for residents and promotes a safe and healthy environment throughout our community.”

Fuqua is one of the community leaders the mayor invited to join in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, thanks to a generous gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Fuqua spent time last month in New York City with other Louisville leaders working on a plan to increase safety in Louisville’s public parks.

According to Bloomberg Harvard’s website, The leadership initiative equips mayors and senior city officials to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life of their residents. Fuqua sees her role in the program as making sure that Louisville is looking at park investments with an equity lens, “making the team aware of the issues that surround the parks in west Louisville,” she said.

First, the tornado. Then, the invasive plants. How can Cherokee Park bloom again?

Safer parks require city investments

Decades of disinvestment is the reality for Louisville's public park system, which is why Parks Alliance of Louisville spent three years working on a “Parks for All” analysis and developing a 15-year strategy to drive equitable investments in Louisville’s parks. The 2021 report stated the city had accrued $177 million in deferred maintenance and 30 of its parks had received zero capital funding since the 2003 merger of city/county government. The national nonprofit Trust for Public Land scored Louisville's parks for equity at just 28 on a scale of 100, with 100 being the best. The organization looks at the distribution of parks and park acreage across race and income.

“How can a park be safe if it's not maintained?” Fuqua asked.

Good question.

There's a direct correlation between maintained parks and a reduction in gun violence. A University of Virginia study from 2020 found that properly maintained green spaces or "greening intervention" helps reduce gun violence in urban areas. Conversely, city green spaces that are neglected foster criminal activity.

Mayor Greenberg inherited this financial slight of public parks from Louisville's previous administration and he's working to remedy what's been neglected. He boosted the Louisville Parks and Recreation budget by 25% for fiscal year 2024.

Mayor Craig Greenberg: My team has a big, ambitious agenda for every part of Louisville.

Fuqua commends the mayor’s efforts to upgrade Chickasaw Park as well as the additional allocation of $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds to restore the park’s pond and improve storm water infrastructure. River overlooks and fishing piers are being added as well. There's even a kayak and canoe launch being installed. And yes, they are working with LG&E to get new, updated walking path lights.

“Everybody deserves to have a safe Park in their neighborhood,” Fuqua said.

I agree. If Louisville is truly going to be the “city of parks” it claims to be, our parks must be properly maintained and safe for everyone, in every neighborhood.

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is the opinion editor for The Louisville Courier Journal. She can be reached via email at BFeldkamp@Gannett.com or on social media @WriterBonnie.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: While KY stalls on gun laws, look to park maintenance to reduce crime