Portsmouth park's unique designs geared toward the elderly

The concrete walls of the landscaped beds have decorative bronze starfish to deter skateboarders. Because the park is on a busy thoroughfare, a walking path was paved through the center with Japanese Zelkova trees planted on either side. (John H. Sheally II photos | The Virginian-Pilot)

By Janie Bryant
The Virginian-Pilot

PORTSMOUTH

The city may be missing dog and skate parks, but soon it will have something a lot of communities don't.

Scotts Creek Park, which will officially open next month, is designed especially for senior citizens and the physically disabled.

Its features include wide walkways curving through a 3 -acre park, gardenias and garlic plants to sniff, and textured ferns to touch. The flower beds are raised so people in wheelchairs or those unable to bend down can still get a close-up of nature.

"We talked to some therapeutic recreation folks and did some research on sensory gardens and the kinds of things we would want to include," said Meg Pittenger, the city's parks manager.

It's a concept for public space that should be welcome in a city that has the highest percentage of residents older than 60 in South Hampton Roads.

About 17,000 Portsmouth residents - almost 17 percent of the city's population - fall into that age group, according to 2006 census figures. The age group makes up about 13 percent of the population in Norfolk and about 14 percent in Virginia Beach, Suffolk and Chesapeake.

The new park grew out of the city's Vision 2005 economic and community revitalization plan.

Diane Quick, stormwater inspector for the city of Portsmouth, inspects the catch fence that will keep silt and runoff from spilling into the creek at Scotts Creek Park. Features of the park include wide walkways and raised flower beds.

The consultant the city used, Ray Gindroz and the staff of Urban Design Associates, is "big proponents of parks in neighborhoods, bringing people together," said Kathy Warren, development director for the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

This linear park was created from a two-block stretch of London Boulevard that was previously lined with a row of old, narrow houses that backed up to the busy corridor. The structures gave a blighted first impression of the nearby northside neighborhoods of Shea Terrace and West Park View, as well as the well-traveled approach to downtown.

The housing authority used about $1.2 million in federal funding to acquire the first of the 21 properties in 1998, Warren said.

The park itself cost about $400,000, according to Michael Morris, the city's director of parks, recreation and leisure services.

While the new green space is a neighborhood park, Pittenger said officials expect that organizations and facilities serving the elderly will take groups there. It is only two blocks from the former Shea Terrace Elementary School, a building that was transformed into affordable apartments for senior citizens.

Pittenger said park officials tried to create a place for reflection and relaxation.

The concrete walls of the landscaped beds are studded with decorative bronze starfish to deter skateboarders. And because it is on a busy thoroughfare, the walking path was paved through the center of the park with Japanese Zelkova trees planted on either side.

Pittenger said they were careful to leave established trees.

For senior citizens and others who want daily exercise, the walking path includes distance markers. The east end of the pathway offers an outlook onto Scotts Creek.

Janie Bryant, (757) 446-2453, janie.bryant@pilotonline.com