Public parks hunt private aid
Groups that give funds expect a say in spending
The state of Massachusetts, which has slashed park funding by almost 40 percent in the last four years, is soliciting private citizens to contribute money to maintain the public spaces.
In the next six months, almost $1 million worth of improvements and repairs made possible by the new program are slated at 16 parklands or recreation areas, from fixing a warped theater ceiling at Fall River Heritage State Park to painting rusty flagpoles at the Mohawk Trail State Forest in Western Massachusetts.
The donations so far are a tiny fraction of an $800 million maintenance backlog at about 150 metropolitan parks and state recreation areas, but the 19-month-old Office of Public/Private Partnerships, which matches the contributions that citizen groups are able to raise, is hoping to do much more.
The effort has fierce critics, especially those who say it attempts to absolve state officials of responsibility for basic park maintenance. Debate is beginning to percolate over control of the parklands and donations, with some fearful the practice will result in donors placing private demands on public spaces. Others worry that parklands with wealthy neighbors will get more attention than those in poorer areas.
But state officials say the partnerships are the only realistic way for some 150 metropolitan park and state recreation areas to get visitor centers reshingled, paths repaved, and water fountains replaced during tight budget times.
''You can make two choices" when you see parks in disrepair, said Betsy Shure Gross, executive director of the partnership office in the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. ''You can walk away and say people aren't taking very good care of it, or you can get involved."
Shure Gross said she knows the citizen groups won't be able to raise all the money that is needed for parks. But any project is a help, she said, and develops a constituency that will advocate for parks in the future.
Greater Boston residents have long relied on private fund-raising from park friends' groups to maintain the area's most treasured places, such as the Public Garden, the Esplanade, parts of the Charles River, Commonwealth Avenue Mall, and the Boston Harbor Islands national park area. Businesses took the lead in creating Post Office Square Park, and a public/private effort is underway to raise as much as $50 million for the new Rose Kennedy Greenway above the Big Dig.
Most other park areas throughout the state, however, get little or no private funding and have fallen into disrepair, with poorly maintained trails, illegal dumping, and vandalism so severe that some buildings have been shuttered. Budget cuts have led the state to remove rangers and environmental police officers from dozens of parks and campgrounds, while rusted playgrounds and broken benches are a common sight on state-owned land.
Park friends' groups praise the new program, largely because it appears to be the only way they can get areas repaired. Still, some want to ensure that if they raise money for parklands, they get a significant say in what those donations are used for.
''If we raise the money and beat the bushes, we want to have a say in what goes on," said Mike Ryan, president of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation north of Boston. His group has raised $15,000, often through donations of just a few dollars, that is being matched by the state to help rehabilitate a crumbling Tudor barn on the shores of Spot Pond.
Massachusetts has already had some missteps. Later this month, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation will uproot and move 100 cherry trees along the Charles River Esplanade that were donated last year. Officials and residents bitterly complained the trees were planted with little public review and went against a master plan for the area. Meanwhile, a group of House Republicans has floated an idea to sell naming rights for some parklands.
Shure Gross says projects will be chosen jointly with the private groups and the state. She is also adamant that no parks will have corporate names or advertising. Her office is finalizing a set of guidelines for how park partnerships should work, including a list of ways corporations and individuals could be generously thanked for donations, but not to the detriment of a park's character.
Ever since New York's Central Park Conservancy was established in 1980, private citizens have taken on the job of finding money to repair and maintain public parks that governments failed to. Most were urban parks, from Pittsburgh to Louisville, Ky., which had fallen into decrepit conditions as city residents flocked to the suburbs after World War II.
While Massachusetts is creating a program far more expansive than one limited to a single park, officials are looking at Atlanta's
Then 15 years ago, a powerful group of citizens and civic leaders stepped in to forge a partnership with the city that has raised almost $20 million in private money. Today, joggers and stroller-pushing parents flock to Piedmont's pansy-lined pathways, white-pillared lakeside gazebo, and a popular off-leash dog park.
In the Piedmont Park partnership's early days, critics were angry with city officials for past failures to fund the park, but eventually came around as it became clear the park would not be improved without private donations. Suspicion abounded over who would control the park, and it took three years to hammer out a compromise that kept Piedmont in city ownership but allowed the Piedmont Park Conservancy to control the funds it raises.
''Many people thought we were going to put a fence around the park at first," remembers Aaron Watson, former board president of the conservancy.
Today, the Conservancy brings in $250,000 a year by renting out a renovated building for weddings. Donations have cleaned up the lake, restored a beloved, sweeping meadow, created the dog park, and built dozens of benches, among many more projects. The Conservancy funds 85 percent of park maintenance and even pays for extra security officers.
Atlanta has had its challenges. A $125,000 donation from MCI in 1998 caused a public outcry when a local newspaper reported that it came with plans to name a viewing area MCI Point. Today, a watchdog group remains critical of the Conservancy and is currently fighting a plan to build an 800-space parking deck with the adjacent Botanical Garden, in part because they say it would cause congestion by encouraging people to drive to the park.
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, state officials say they want to hear from more parks groups about projects.
Critics, however, say they won't be satisfied until the state increases its budget for parklands. Private donations, they say, should go only to complement state investment, not replace it.
''I reject the notion that the state can't afford to provide public parks anymore," said James Gomes, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, which got its start protecting state forests and parks. ''All I can see is an administration that wants to spend less and less on special public places for everyone to enjoy."
Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com
