The grand opening of the Rev. James Donald Rice Pocket Park Thursday morning was "the fulfillment of a prophecy," the daughter of the Hot Springs community leader and civil rights activist told a crowd gathered for the event.
Donnellda Rice said her father "would have been humbled as is my family," by the dedication of the park in his name.
Located at 511 Pleasant St., directly behind the Hot Springs Police Department, the almost half-acre park includes a full-size basketball court, swing set, picnic table and benches. Primary funding for the park, around $90,000, was provided to the Gateway Community Association through a Community Development Block Grant with the city's Parks and Trails Department providing much of the labor.
Quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who said, "There will come a day when black children and white children, children of all hues and religions, will play together," Rice said, "That day has come!"
She said her father, "a Baptist minister for 50 years," would have said, "'Donnellda, God spoke to me. Weeping may endure for a night. I've known some nights now. I knew a night in 1963, Dec. 23, when a church, a beautiful edifice, was in shambles and ashes. But, you know what? Joy comes in the morning. We will progress from this place and be hosted by the stunning edifices that replaced those dark nights. This is a moment where the prophecy is fulfilled. There are big moments and small moments, but this one is so important. I tell you that joy, unspeakable joy, is here."
Jean Lacefield, president of the Gateway Community Association, said the Pleasant Street Historic District, the largest African-American historic district in Arkansas, "has had many leaders to emerge" and there were several names the association looked at in naming the park, but "the Rev. Rice's hands-on contribution for this particular neighborhood stood out among all the others."
She said it was "a very befitting choice" because the original house Rice and his family lived in was "half a block away" at the corner of Shiloh and Pleasant streets and his second residence was at Garden and Pleasant streets "so right in the middle we have a park to honor him."
Lacefield said Rice came to Hot Springs in 1962 and was senior pastor at Roanoke Baptist Church on Whittington and he played a critical role in the integration of the Hot Springs School District following the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown vs. the Board of Education.
"He saw the initiative and led Hot Springs forward on the school integration journey. When four African-American students were refused entry to the Hot Springs School District, he picked up the ball. In May 1963, he gave a little catalyst to the district. It happened to be a lawsuit, but still a catalyst," she said.
"The board decided in August to allow the students to go to school and one of those students was his daughter, Donnellda Rice. His children were part of the integration process. There are always ways to have a workable solution and that demonstrates courageous leadership. When we were looking for a leader to step up, the Rev. Rice did that for our city."
Mayor Pat McCabe said with dedications "we often say thank you too late in life. We don't thank people for the work they do during their lives, but tend to come back around." He said they didn't recognize Rice during his time, but felt it "very fitting" they were able to do it Thursday with his daughter present.
"This is a wonderful court, a wonderful gathering place and will become a beacon of light within the community."
He jokingly reminded City Director Elaine Jones, District 2, that she had previously challenged him to a basketball game when the dedication ceremony arrived. "She said she was going to back me down and stuff (the ball) over my head. Well, game on!"
Jones, who lives behind the park, said she was "very excited" at the park's completion. "When the ball is in my yard then I'll play ball. As long as the ball stays in the park, everybody can come over and play. This is more than just a treat for me. This is like the candy on the Christmas tree you were waiting for or the bunny with the eggs the kids are waiting for."
City Manager Bill Burrough said, "These things usually happen with a vision and a grassroots drive to make it come to fruition," noting he remembered talking to Jones several years ago about it. "This has really been something she has thought about and worked on for quite some time and it's a privilege to make it come to pass today."
Anthony Whittington, the city's Parks and Trails director, said the pocket park is now the 18th park in the city and "there was definitely a need in the Gateway community. Since we broke ground in April, I've had people calling weekly asking when they could play basketball and when is it going to be built?"
"Parks are all about getting youth and adults outside and this is a great example of that," he said.
Lacefield said it all started in 2014 when Gateway submitted an application for the CDBG funding to the city seeking a park on Pleasant Street. She said they contacted the owners of the lot, Healthy Connections Medical Clinic, who were "extremely delighted" to help because they had been previously discussing what to do with the lot.
"The Lord was with us and we had a lot of patience," she said, noting they applied for funding for several years before they finally got approval "which leads us to today."
Hot Springs Police Chief Jason Stachey told The Sentinel-Record he had sent a letter of support to the city about the proposed project after hearing about it "because we saw the benefit of having a park directly behind the police department where our officers could interact with the youth."
He said it would be "a great asset," noting, "Just having an area where the young people can gather and police can engage with them. That's what it's all about."
Local on 06/14/2019