July 2003

• Our Superfluous "Pocket" Parks
  
  Parks: We now have plenty, thank you--and thanks to everyone else who has worked to make them nice for all residents.
  
  Our parks didn't just happen. Early on, there were few.?Some neighborhood friends in the first section once tried to create our first softball field. It was on the power line easement next to the canal that runs behind Potomac Drive. We did succeed in erecting a backstop.
  
  Unfortunately it wasn't nearly tall enough to keep most foul tips from plopping into the water behind. Although that backstop sat there for years, I never heard of a game played on the field.
  
  Then the Lions got busy and built that fine pavilion and cleared the land. next to the stables. It wasn't long afterward that Rudolph Park, just beyond the second section on Voyage Drive, also took shape. Lots of volunteer sweat went into creating that one, I can attest.
  
  Then along came the terribly expensive Capital Improvement Plan. Even so, one of its creations, Briar Patch Park, has been well worth it, providing some excellent? ball fields.
  
  The newest park, Friendship, is mainly the product of hard-working volunteers in section three. Way out yonder on Aquia, it's taking shape nicely, if only the vandals would leave the benches alone.
  
  We have also tried our luck with "pocket" parks. Mostly, they had originally been privately owned vacant lots that the owners gave back to AHPOA in lieu of paying delinquent dues. Only one, I'd venture, has been successful: The fishing park next to the bridge over Aquia Creek.
  
  As a matter of fact, AHPOA has recently sold off two others. One was close to the tennis courts on Aquia Drive in the first section. For a while it had picnic tables. I never saw anyone using it. The other held a distinctively ugly basketball half-court on Aquia Drive in the flats.
  
  Another one, Wright Park, persists on Harpoon Drive near its southmost intersection with Aquia Drive, a bare half-mile from the expansive Rudolph Park.
  
  Hardly anyone even knows where it is; we once worked hard to clear it and provide a space for cars. Moreover, I doubt if anyone has ever seen folks enjoying its amenities, mainly some latter-day monkey bars.
  
  Even so, the board of directors the other night unwisely extended its life by accepting? the recommendation of a committee of parks and recreation enthusiasts. So we'll dump some money into it for no good reason. It's failed just like those other "pockets." Moreover, it isn't even handicap friendly, but steep to walk to. Its continued use must violate some law for sure.
  
  A much better idea would be to sell Wright and pocket the change-- for $50 grand or more, judging from the others' recent sales. That equals over 50 of our annual dues.
  
  And now, exclusively for you Harbour Web site fans, here's another stunning insight on park alternatives. If we acknowledge that section two outside the flats is without a park of its own if Wright is sold off, and really wants one to go with that lush golf course, consider this:
  
  It would be easy to create a tot lot or something similar on our land lacking potential revenue. Where? On the golf course, of course (FORE!!!)
  
  Seriously, take a close look at the area around the tee box for the sixth hole. It's right next to Buoy Drive. It would be simple to move the existing tee box down the fairway and relocate it near where the lady's tee for that hole is now, making plenty of room for a handicap-friendly little park. Who could object to a swell idea like that? (FORE!!!)
  
  In any event, we are set to get another park soon anyway--on a platter. Construction of newly created wetlands beyond the end of Delaware Drive gets underway this summer, at the government's expense. The land never could be built on, and we're getting the ingredients for a first-rate environmental park there.
  
  Nature lovers already have an abundance of land to trek on here. Government Island is right next door. Also, that wooded, 76-acre patch of land near the marina and between the creek and canal lies almost undisturbed. Another tract at the north end of Harpoon has similarly gone untramped, prior to the use of part of its 33 acres this summer for dumping the dirt dug to create the wetlands.
  
  I'd say we have plenty of places for parks and recreation. Few would mourn turning the little Wright Park back into cash. Call our board members. Reverse their course before it's too late.