The city of Gainesville held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday to open Lincoln Yard Park in the Lincoln Estates neighborhood.
Around 60 community leaders and residents attended the park celebration funded by the Wild Spaces Public Places surtax.
“We are excited to celebrate the creation of a new park in the Lincoln Estates neighborhood,” Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Roxy Gonzalez said in a press release. “We are witnessing positive, visible changes in Gainesville because of this community’s commitment to its public spaces.”
The city completed the project on a six-month timeline after breaking ground in January. The finished park at 2099 SE 8 Ave. includes a walking path, stormwater pond, children’s playground and adult exercise equipment.
Homebuilder Philip Emmer constructed the Lincoln Estates neighborhood between 1960 and 1978 determined to build affordable, quality homes for African Americans. The southeast Gainesville neighborhood’s successful result attracted national attention as a model of equitable access to home ownership.
A series of signs at Lincoln Yard Park’s entrance use historical photographs to share stories of some of Lincoln Estate’s prominent residents who made the neighborhood an important part of Gainesville’s past, present and future.
Highlighted are T.B. McPherson, a teacher, coach and administrator with Alachua County Public Schools for nearly 40 years, Lincoln High School math teacher and swim coach Andrew Mickle and his wife, Catherine, who was an educator with a career spanning from 1957 to 1996 at Lincoln High School, the Alachua County School Board District Office and Eastside High School.
At the park’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward referred to these residents as, “Individuals who dedicated their lives to elevating Gainesville’s African American community.”
Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker represents Lincoln Estates and referred to Lincoln Yard Park as a continuing example of what is possible when the community comes together.