Portland, Tennessee Blog

Meadow Brook Park

Why don't the Parks dept clean all those big grey rocks out of the stream at Meadowbrook park. They make the stream look so trashy. I like to see streams as mother nature intended them. I never could understand why they put them in it. They also need more trees and native bushes along the stream. Maybe they could just stop mowing a few areas and let nature take over. It wouldn't cost anything and would save a little money on mowing. It would also be a area for wildlife to hide and live.

What do other people think about this.

I also think there use to be a pond in this park and it would be nice to have another one.

Can anyone tell me the exact times around meadow park it takes to make mile ??? its like a great myth everyone i ask has a different answer, some say twice some 4 times. I wish it was posted as I actually took the time to read the exercise station boards hoping one would tell of this portland mystery :) thank you and have a blessed healthy prosperous loved day

I totally agree with Jennifer. I too have a toddler and have had issue with the restrooms being so far away. Also, pregnant it is a LONG walk to have to make.
I would like to add a true story here also. Our family was going to the park one day. We had picked up some fast food and was eating it in the car before we got out to play. While we were eating, we saw two kids and one adult there already. The kids looked to be about 8 and 5. We watched in horror as the 5 yr old pulled his pants down and used the restroom right on the ground next to the playground!! Adult with them not paying attention at this point. Okay, it gets much worse, but I'll spare the nastiness if I can. The child did not have any paper, so you can guess how he tried to clean himself. That's right on the eqipment!! Adult only just now seeing what was going on. We had been blowing our horn hoping to get her attention, but to no avail. We watched as the whole thing unfolded in fornt of us. Now the adult with these kids, did make an attempt to clean it up and I'm sure she was mortified, but would she have cone that if no one had been there? If this TRUE story is not a prefect example of why we need bathrooms closer to the playground at Richland park, then I dont know what is!!

Well, I absolutely love the new addition to the Richland Park. I love the walking track, although, I wish it made one complete circle instead of leading into nowhere and the playground is great for my son. But, I do see one problem...I think it is totally inconveient if you or your child has to go to the restroom. I was walking along the track and the closest bathroom is all the way over at the soccer field and when you have a 2 year old who needs to go, they need to go then, not 3-5 minutes later when you reach the restroom, unless you are running. I think that a restroom closer to the playground would be of much greater use to those of us who are there to walk or use the playground.

Does anybody remember Brownie?

Brownie was in charge of the parks at Portland's little league and I certainly don't remember the park looking like it does today.

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes - but I'm very curious to know why the trash cans are full and why there is trash laying all around. And why are the fields in such bad conditions?

Does the city "service" that park? or is the maintenance provided by volunteers or members of the board?

I'm not trying to turn this into a "Why is Dixie playing on such nice fields?" platform. But, why is there such a difference in the condition of the parks?

Crow -

Just read your posting. Well, at least, you'll have the park all to yourselves...LOL LOL. Name another town that can provide you acres for your visits??? LOL LOL

Seriously, when the parks are used most are when Dixie Ballgames and the other sports things are going on....otherwise it's pretty quiet.

Hopefully, the City leaders will start thinking of ways to make the park more useful for more entertaining things, concerts, etc.

The walking path is nice...

Hope you will enjoy Portland --- I've been grumpy and frustrated since this last election, but overall, it's a nice, quiet, safe (for the most part ) town. I think the Library is great here...and I'm obviously enjoying this Blog !
Tennessee taxes are too high, but it's only a few miles to tax-free food in Franklin !

an opinion of Portland's parks, from an outsider's perspective:

my girlfriend often visits me from a town that is similarly sized to Po'land, only in south Georgia...
she is impressed with our parks, but can you guess for what reason?

ANSWER: the fact that there are rarely any other people there when we visit, which is usually on Sunday afternoons, sometimes Fridays or Saturdays...

NOTE: low population density on weekends generally isn't a good thing for parks...at this point, I'd say Po'land is getting what it deserves, maybe a little better...

-crow...

In response to the post about monthly events...what a great idea !! I was in Gallatin today for their Squarefest...it was really nice.
Portland could have all kinds of neat events -- if they would. What a great way to draw people from other towns and spark an interest in Portland. When people see that it's a fun town...they will come and spend...yes...MONEY !
Isn't that what Portland needs ?????
Why not use the park to host events ?
Plenty of parking....plenty of space...and it wouldn't disrupt traffic in town.

how did everyone think the portland youth basketball league went this year?

I have heard many people talk about a civic center. I have a bit of a differnet plan than some of my colleagues. Let me take a few lines to explain why I feel the way I do.
When we bought this new park, it put a serious strain on our resources in our general fund for a lot of years. Many other aspects of the park system have suffered because we were paying about $1000 a day just in debt service on the park for a while. We have paid a lot of that debt down and are just now beginning to get some breathing room.
My vision is this... we are due to pay off the land for that park in 2007. Now I don't have the numbers in front of me, but if my memory serves that will open up about $56,000 to use for something else that first budget year.
Why not get out from under one huge obligation before undertaking another? Yes, it would be nice to have it now, but I don't want to pass such a heavy burden on to other Councils as was passed to this one.
Some have mentioned the grants we could get to build a civic center, and yes, they are out there. But that is only part of our obligation. We would have to equip and staff the thing once it was built. We would be in much better shape in 2007 to take on the financial obligations of a new civic center. I won't be around after May of 2007, but that would be a challenge I would extend to the new Council coming in at that time.

PS -- About the pool. It is an old pool, but a good one. There are few facilties in our park that get the use that the pool does. However, I would love to shut it down once we get a civic center if it had indoor facilities. The pool we have is just getting old and is requiring increasing maintenance that any pool as old as it is would have.

Anyways, I know this was a long post, but I hope it gets some more conversation going about the direction of our Parks system.

Guess it's a matter of opinion. I'm not talking about just the Parks, but more of the whole recreation system. I live closer to WH than Portland, but rarely visit White House Parks. Their walking trail is great, but does Portland have the infrastructure for that type of trail? I mean it would be through Trailor Parks and Railroad Crossings! Outside of this trail.. what does WH offer that Portland does not? On the other hand, Gallatin has a nice park, but you wouldn't catch me in their after dark. A huge safety issue, again just a matter of opinion.
Hendersonville probably has one of the best PARKS in the entire STATE. I really wasn't considering them as my neighbor... what about Franklin, Cross Plains, Westmoreland, and I'll even include WH (Again, What do they have outside of a Walking Trail?) Portland needs to hire a YOUNG Assistant Director to work with/along Barbara for a couple of years and take over after she retires. Barbara is very good at what she does, but I'm not sure she has the DESIRE to make Portland Parks GREAT! A new YOUNG guy/girl would be around to see Portland through changes for years to come. We have a GOOD recreation department that needs a little tweaking to become GREAT. Just my two cents:)

I am not sure what parks you are talking about that ours are better than? I think Gallatin, White House and Hendersonville put ours to shame.The new park is good but not grand.I would love to see a better walking trail the one in White House is great.If the parks are better people get out more to enjoy them and that inturn will help all of us to stay active and healthy.

I think we are fortunate to have the recreation system we have in Portland. Honestly, I think our recreation department is better than all of the communities around us, with the exception of maybe Gallatin. I'm not saying there is no room for improvement, but just feel fortunate to have everything that we do have.

I believe we need to improve from within before we start new projects. Meaderbrook Park needs a huge facelift. The Tennis courts are second rate, the lights around the walking track 1/2 work (If we had a nature trail, would the lights be replaced regularly?), the play area isn't kid friendly, and the restrooms suck. Why not sell this property and invest the profit in these activities at the new park? Maybe build one of the new schools on this land? Just food for thought...

I think the pool is a CASH COW! I mean do we actually make a profit here? By the time we pay the labor, the CHEMICALS, and the insurance... are we making money? Would like to hear Mike and Tim's opinion on the pool. I know it would be taking away yet another avenue for our teens, but just curious. A new Civic Center could have an INDOOR and OUTDOOR pool:)

What about Monthly events? I know Franklin has the fair, concerts, beauty pageants, car shows, and music nights. Do we have anything like this in Portland? I think we may have a car show, but maybe Family night at the park once a month with entertainment???

I would like to see some kind of community center or organized park activities (i.e. walking club, etc.) for the seniors in Portland that would provide transportation to and from. I think there are many people that could use day outings that just can't drive, but need the interaction w/others.