Project EverGreen announces completion of the latest “Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids.” project at West End Park in San Antonio, TX. The park’s baseball and soccer fields were given a needed facelift to provide neighborhood children and families with a safe place to play and exercise.
Working in partnership with the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association and Texas Water Smart Foundation, Project EverGreen and industry volunteers provided the materials and labor to restore more than 34,000 sq. ft. of the park’s playing surfaces and entryways. The undertaking is one of more than a dozen “Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids.” projects taking place across Texas and the United States.
Green industry volunteers ValleyCrest, Billy Long Enterprises, Keller Material and New Earth Compost donated the organic materials, fertilizer, plant material, hardscape products, equipment and labor to complete the project.
The initiative included soil aeration and fertilization, application of soil top dressing, excavating and grading the infield surface to the baseball and soccer fields, and installation of two new entrance way planting beds and hardscape materials. The fields were rehabilitated using Texas Water Smart water conservation techniques to ensure the green spaces are water efficient now and in the future.
“Our mission is to preserve and enhance green spaces where we live, work and play,” says Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “Parks, sports fields and recreational play areas are vital to healthy, thriving communities. One of the ways we demonstrate our commitment is by mobilizing generous local landscape industry contractor volunteers to donate their time and talents to make these projects possible.”
The park’s baseball and soccer fields are used by hundreds of neighborhood children as well as area residents. The improvements to the fields are made possible, in part, due to a water conservation education grant administered by the Texas Water Development Board.
“We are pleased to partner with Project EverGreen in this worthwhile effort to revitalize West End Park,” says acting Parks and Recreation department director Janet Martin. “Youth will benefit from these newly renovated fields where they can play and be active. These partnerships assist us in connecting families and neighbors, which is at the heart of what parks do for our residents.”
“The Texas Nursery and Landscape Association and Texas Water Smart Foundation are pleased to partner with Project EverGreen to help improve community recreational fields and green spaces,” said Amy Graham, chairman of the Texas Water Smart Foundation. “We appreciate the contributions of the project volunteers and the City of San Antonio in establishing this project as a long-term reminder of the importance of outdoor spaces to the environment and an educational opportunity for the residents of San Antonio to learn about water conservation.”
Project EverGreen’s “Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids.” is a nationwide initiative to renovate and revitalize parks and athletic fields to ensure children have access to safe green spaces on which to play and exercise. Yards, parks and athletic fields not only promote a healthier lifestyle but contribute to economic growth, community development and benefit the environment.
Renovation projects are have been completed or scheduled in numerous cities across the United States in 2015 including Fort Worth and Round Rock, TX; Atlanta; Cleveland; Chicago; Minneapolis; Raleigh, Durham and Greensboro, NC; Milwaukee, WI; and Portland, OR. Key contributors to the nationwide initiative include the Dominion Foundation, Performance Nutrition, the Sports Turf Managers Association and Exmark Mfg.
