Mother Mathilda Beasley Park
For this project we created an Urban Tomography of Savannah by focusing on East Broad Street. For our research we selected “Mother Mathilda Beasley Park”.
Our purpose for this project, is to find different interviewees such as locals and visitors and get as much information as we could in order to be able to collect their ideas such as their opinions or thoughts, concerns, preferences, idea of the place, what they like about it, how they know about it, why they go there, etc.
At first we wanted to find a place that could make us feel comfortable and safe, also we wanted to know other people’s opinion. We thought the area around Beasley Park had a safer feeling from other places near by.
Mother Mathilda Beasley Park
Biography
Mother Mathilda Beasley was born in 1832 into slavery, gained her freedom and moved to Savannah in the 1860s, became a pioneer in the Catholic Church, until her death in 1903 (Stramm).
Why Mother Mathilda Beasley Park?
One of the reasons we selected this area was because at first, we immediately saw a SCAD building Clarence Thomas Center in the area. We thought it was a safer place having this building in front of the park because SCAD provides security faculty, security cameras, and from time to time the local police drives around the area providing security to students, locals, visitors or any person in the area.
Some of the SCAD buildings around Savannah provide a “Public Assistance” or better known as “Emergency Phones or blue call boxes”, In this case this operative pole is located on the side of the Clarence Thomas Center building in front of the park. The emergency phone works by pushing the call button that activates a direct connection with the Police Department that automatically pinpoints the caller’s location. This can be use for any person who feels unsafe around the area and also is a faster way to call for help.
Secondly, there are two churches near the park that were separate in two services, one of them was located in front of the park. We thought it was a a good idea because it was near the elementary school and both churches were next to each other. We thought by having two churches around the area of the park would bring a specific stereotype such as family, students and visitors. And for last, by having an elementary school next to the park it would make this area a safer and enjoyable place for kids, young adults, parents and seniors.
The Big Change of Mother Mathilda Beasley Park
The area around the park was originally a much more dangerous place, with crime being just as frequent as the areas further south. SCAD wasn’t there and the Clarence Thomas Center was a completely different facility. There was also no school nearby with most of playgrounds and dog play area being new additions as well. When Scad showed up things changed significantly, what is now the Clarence Thomas center was renovated and repurposed as a Scad building. Security was also increased around the area along with renovations done to nearby areas around it, giving the neighborhood a clean look and feel to it. Due to the necessary security for students not local to Savannah they tightened security and added stations to keep watch for any suspicious activity, fortunately that also means it makes people that aren’t from Scad are being watched over collaterally as well. Due to issues in the city being dangerous for students they take any violence in the area very seriously and work to keep it from doing further harm. Because of this increased security and Scad wanting to keep a clean image, it has made the area secure and nice looking for visitors, students and locals.
The Park
We wanted to find different interviewees such as locals and visitors and get as much information as we could in order to be able to collect their ideas such as their opinions or thoughts, concerns, preferences, idea of the place, what they like about it, how they know about it, why they go there, etc.
Visitors
Based on our interviews, one of the reasons people preferred to go to Mother Matilda Beasley Park instead of Forsyth Park was because the dog’s owner could able to go to the “Dog Area” which is located on the corner of the park. This area people can sit around and relax without worrying about the dog going too far away, it prevents from bothering other people, the area provides a big dog bowl full of water for the dog to drink, it has trash bags for the owner to pick up the dogs feces. and basically.
Locals
We thought how convenient was for locals, visitors and students to be able to access to this park and to know about it. Even though this area is not well known for visitor or even locals specially students, we were lucky to find couple of people who were visitors and locals.
Dog Park
Visitors to the park are usually parents and people walking their dogs, people usually would go to Forsyth park for that but people here have much more specific tastes for this area that Forsyth does not offer. The dog area makes it easier for them to have fun with their dog without them wandering off and bothering other people. It also allows them to be unleashed, making them have more freedom outside of the house but still able to be kept from wandering off from their owner. The playgrounds have a rubber ground instead of wood chips making it safer for kids if the trip or jump off rides.
http://youtu.be/jt7W0K2xgUc?list=PLpZRv7_Hi1lC1jCuKQfSBBsx_eR3XiPaj
Based on observations and interviews, we saw a couple of visitors in the area, some of them walked by the park and others walked their dogs in the dog area. One of the visitors we interviewed is from Germany and this was his fourth time visiting his friend in
He knew about the park because his friend was local and recommended him to go to Mother Mathilda’s Park instead of Forsyth because it had a dog area where he could unleash his two dogs and let them play around without causing any problems to other people such as going far away from him while playing, giving water to the dog or forgetting to bring a trash bag to pick up his dog feces.
Playground
Based on observations and interviews, not many people knew about the area or the park itself. Some people thought it was the elementary school property but others people that knew more about the park were people who lived there for a while or near by the area go to the park anytime she wants.
http://youtu.be/L5iRKtaKqYM?list=PLpZRv7_Hi1lC1jCuKQfSBBsx_eR3XiPaj
In our interview we talked to a local that lived in Savannah for almost ten years, her named was Veronica, she had one kid that also goes to the elementary school, she told us the park and the area itself has changed over the years she lived in Savannah, she is happy that now she can take her kids to the playground without worrying about strangers coming up her kid or worrying her kid might get hurt while playing in the ground.
She is very happy about all the facilities the park provides for her kid and also she can take her kids to the playground without worrying about strangers coming up her kid or worrying her kid might get hurt while playing in the ground. She is very happy about all the facilities the park provides for her kid and also she can go to the park anytime she wants. Over the years they started building the playground, baseball field, dog area, restrooms and water fountains for people to be able to use while they are in the park. She mentioned how important was for her to be able to bring his kids to a place where it has a friendly environment, specially around nice people, the area made her feel safe, she liked that the playground had rubber floor mat to prevent her kids from getting hurt, she also thought it was convenient to have a picnic next to the playground to have bbq with her family and friends while her kid is playing.
She told us that she preferred to go to Mother Mathilda’s Beasley Park rather than Forsyth Park because it was unsafe for the kids to play on the playground because the floor was concrete and her kids could get hurt easily, she didn’t feel safe when strangers coming up her kid, and Forsyth was far from her home.
“Conclusion”
After collecting the information based on their thoughts, concerns, preferences, idea of the park, what they liked about it, how they know about it and why they go there. From what we found out of this we can conclude that the arrival of SCAD and the security they brought turned a typical street people would avoid being alone on, to a secure and safe area where people bring their kids to play and walk their dogs. The area has been made more secure by SCAD making it a less likely place for crime to happen. The safer conditions and more convenient equipment for the kids and pets, it is seen as a better place by some than Forsyth park.
By Cristina Fung and Blake Williams.
