Residents in Jacksonville say one of their local parks has been neglected and no longer attracts members of the community.
Belinda Walls, a long-time Jacksonville local, said she remembers when Johnson Park was a popular community hangout.
“As a teenager, I hung out in this park, and we used to have a blast,” Walls said. “Used to be full of people every day.”
However, she said that’s no longer the case.
“Most parents don’t want them in the park,” Walls said.
She said some residents were scared off after the 2022 shooting death of a 39-year-old man at the park.
According to Walls and fellow resident Diann Shead, the neglect has gotten worse since then.
“Mold, mildew, rot, graffiti,” Shead said. “The trees and limbs are all over the place.”
According to Walls and Shead, these problems have gone largely unaddressed.
In addition to moldy equipment and explicit graffiti, the park’s water fountain doesn’t work.
The cracks in the basketball court and lack of nets on the rims are two more things the women wish would be fixed.
“I want to see them put the tax money over here,” Shead said.
As a long-time resident, it makes Walls sad.
“There is somewhere local, somewhere in the walking distance for the kids to go, yet they won’t go here because it’s in horrible condition… parents have said, stay away from there,” Walls said.
The city of Jacksonville directed THV11 to the Parks and Recreation Department, which has not returned a request for comment.
Shead said that some graffiti was cleaned up earlier this week, but not all of it- and she added that that’s a far cry from the work that needs to be done.
“I want to be able to barbecue and reunite with all the people in the neighborhood that have grown up here,” Shead said.
“Nobody’s coming over here,” Walls said. “Every now and then, you have a few cars that stray over here and hang out and leave, but it’s just pretty bad conditions.”