 The Quanah Friends of the Park Committee of the E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation is pleased to announce that it received notification today that Preservation Texas named Quanah City Park to its 2021 list of Texas' Most Endangered Places. Nomination for inclusion on the list was made by Eugene E. Johnson, President of the Foundation on behalf of the Friends of the Park Committee. While working on new enhancements and improvements to the Quanah City Park as well as promoting community events at the park, members of Quanah Friends of the Park also recognize the significance of the beautiful historic structures in the park.
Friends of the Park is excited that Preservation Texas has chosen Quanah City Park to be included on this year’s list and hopes that inclusion of the park on the list will bring needed attention to the park as the group works to preserve and repair the historic features of the park. Johnson stated that the group had made contact with Preservation Texas as part of its regular activities and was encouraged by the interest that the organization had in what we all know is an amazing park in the city we all love so dearly. Along with Quanah City Park, the Krupp Building, Old Fort Parker, and five other sites were named on the 2021 list. In its announcement, Preservation Texas stated, “Construction of the Quanah City Park began as a W.P.A. project in November 1936; the park was dedicated the following year. Historic park infrastructure included stone entrances, retaining walls, tables, picnic benches, and a bandstand. “As the park nears its 90th year, its historic infrastructure is in need of repair, including reconstruction of portions of the retaining walls that have been lost because of the impact of deferred maintenance and erosion. Restoration of the park's historic features will ensure that its Depression-era cultural landscape remains intact for the people of Quanah and Hardeman County to enjoy in the decades to come.” Preservation Texas began its list of Most Endangered Places in 2004, which it states, “has served as a reminder that there are some places that must not be lost because they are too important. It has served as a call to action to ensure that treasured sites will endure for generations to come. And through statewide collaboration, it has empowered those working to save them. In all, the Preservation Texas Most Endangered Places program has put a spotlight on over 150 imperiled historic places across Texas. Only 14, or 9%, have been lost.” Preservation Texas is the only private, nonprofit membership organization in Texas that is dedicated to being a full-service statewide preservation organization. Friends of the Park is dedicated to the preservation and beautification of as well as promoting activities to improve enjoyment of the historic Quanah City Park located in Quanah, Texas between Fourth and Fifth Streets and between Good and Louise Streets. Friends of the Park has been established as a committee of the E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation, a Texas nonprofit corporation and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity; EIN 85-1255191. The purpose of the Foundation is to enhance and improve public spaces, including parks, cemeteries, and museums, in Quanah and Hardeman County, Texas, and improve the quality of life of residents through the use and enjoyment of those spaces. The Friends of the Park Volunteer Corps is a group of citizens that enthusiastically supports the mission of the Friends of the Park committee and works with that committee as well as the City of Quanah for the betterment of the Quanah City Park. This group meets periodically to discuss the status of the park, review and assess needs, and develop plans to accomplish its goals for the park. Have you been by your Historic Quanah City Park to see the other big change that is in place? It is for recreation? Is it public art? Is it both?
As we previously announced in August, Friends of the Park selected two designs out of 23 total student entries for the new backboards for the basketball court. Since that time, through funding provided by the American Recovery Plan, the park has installed a whole new concrete basketball playing surface. This smooth concrete surface replaces the uneven and worn asphalt surface and was coordinated by Friends of the Park committee member Becky Parker. In addition, this past week, through the coordination and efforts of Friends of the Park committee member Denise Nowell, along with the generous giving of time and work from Max Nowell, Heath McAllister, and Jonathan Butler, the new posts and goals have been installed. A special thanks also goes to Medicine Mound Ranch Store for providing the concrete used to install the posts. Please go by to see this new addition to your park. Friends of the Park is very happy to have been a part of making this happen with the help of so many, and we hope everyone will enjoy playing some basketball and seeing this first installation of art in the park. Quanah Friends of the Park is excited to announce some big changes taking place! If you have not been by the Historic Quanah City Park this week, you may not have noticed, but there are a couple things that may look a little different now. One of those changes is on the concrete surface of the old koi pond beneath the new blue canopy. Thanks to a generous grant awarded this year from the Gene Conley Foundation providing the funding along with additional support from the community and the E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation, Friends of the Park has added six beautiful new picnic tables!
Since the tables arrived in Quanah unassembled, Friends of the Park needed the support of the community to get everything together. The Quanah High School Agriculture Department stepped up in a big way to help. Thanks to several ag students, the tables were assembled by their classes and delivered to their new home in the park. Friends of the Park would like to give a special thanks to the ag teachers and the following students who helped assemble and deliver the tables: Ranson McSpadden, Triston George, Ethan Cato, Cooper Talley, Chance Brandon, and Clancey Bagby, Koda Wood, and Troi Barrera. For Quanah Friends of the Park, it has been enjoyable to see this go from an idea to a reality, and we encourage everyone to get out an enjoy these new amenities at your Historic Quanah City Park. Year two of the Treemendous Quanah Initiative is in the books!
With our wonderful volunteers from Quanah Friends of the Park, we were able to replace trees lost from the weather this past year along with a few additional new trees. In total, we planted 11 1-2 year growth trees and 4 seedlings at Historic Quanah City Park, 6 trees at Hardeman County Historical Museums, 2 at the Quanah Community Center, and 2 at the Goodlett Cemetery. We were also able to provide 6 trees to individuals from the community for planting in their own yards! Thank you to all who volunteered for this event, and we would like to especially thank the West Kessler Native Arbor Initiative and the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility for donating the trees. Thank you to everyone who made it out to Concert at the Park 2021 with Vegas Stars! It was a great evening with burgers from Quanah Volunteer Fire Department, frozen goodies from Dreamsicle Ice Cream Truck, and barrel train rides for the kids from the Quanah Masonic Lodge.
This morning we were so excited to have a group come together from the West Kessler Native Arbor Initiative of the West Kessler Neighborhood Association, the Treemendous Quanah Initiative of the E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation, and with members of the East Dallas 4-H Club to collect tree seeds to be provided to the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility (LAERF). We were happy to have a researcher from LAERF join with our group today in the seed collection effort as well. Thank you to everyone who helped out this morning, and we hope to be able to collect even more seeds to provide to LAERF in the next few weeks.
 The E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation is excited to announce that it is working with the Goodlett Cemetery Association on a project to enhance the existing entryway to the Goodlett Cemetery. The Foundation established a committee in August 2020 for purposes of identifying specific needs or project ideas at the Goodlett Cemetery. This committee and the Foundation’s board have developed design ideas to supplement the existing arched entryway by adding a new stone wall along with other design elements.
The committee met with the board of the Goodlett Cemetery Association on August 16, 2021 and presented its ideas for the entryway enhancement. It was agreed that the project would move forward, and the Foundation is now working towards the final designs with a goal of construction beginning in the spring of 2022. The image provided is the current design for how we envision the entryway enhancement to look once completed. Although the design is not final and subject to change, this rendering does provide a general idea of the concept and should likely be close to how the final design will come together. Although the Foundation has already made progress towards the financial needs for this project through donations it has received, we still need the help and support from the community. As such, we are currently seeking additional donations to help fund our Goodlett Cemetery initiatives to make this project a reality. If you would like to contribute, please visit our website at www.eejfoundation.org/goodlettcemetery. You may also donate by check payable to E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation with Goodlett Cemetery on the memo line. You may deposit checks in person at Security Bank in Quanah or mail them to the Foundation at 726 North Hampton Road, Dallas, Texas 75208. For those not familiar with it, the Goodlett Cemetery is located in western Hardeman County, approximately ten miles west of Quanah. The cemetery was established in the early 1900s and is officially recognized by the Texas Historical Commission as a Historic Texas Cemetery. The Goodlett Cemetery Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was established in 1947. More information about the Goodlett Cemetery may be found at www.goodlettcemetery.org. As Quanah Friends of the Park announced in March, we have been working on replacing the basketball goals at Historic Quanah City Park. As part of that project, we announced a contest for students to give us their best artistic designs for the backboards for the new goals as we begin working towards installation of public art in the park. We were overwhelmed by the response and received a total of 23 entries from elementary and middle school students. The top two designs, as voted on by the members of the Quanah Friends of the Park Volunteer Corps and Friends of the Park Committee of the E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation, have been selected. Although, for a very good reason (more details soon), we have been delayed in the installation of the new goals, we wanted to go ahead and announce the winners and show off their designs. Here are the winners and other entries including the titles of their designs and their grades (2020-21 school year):
Other Students Who Submitted Entries:
William Waldo, Weston Wilson, Grayson Alcantar, Weston McAllister, Gavin Longoria, Meredithe Meeks, Carlos Nutter, Carter Christianelli, Kenny Cole, Maggie Horton, and Travis Middle School Life Skills Class. We would like to thank each and every student who submitted a design, and give a special thank you also to Torey Sparkman for her help with us to coordinate the designs and entries. Although we had originally planned to have the students with the winning designs help in painting the designs on the backboards, we changed those plans and ended up having the two students re-draw their designs on a larger format, which were then placed on the backboards by Empire Wraps in Wichita Falls. We have included photos here of the two artists with their winning designs and some of the behind-the-scenes work of the wraps being installed. Thank you again to everyone involved with this project, and we can’t wait to see these new goals up and being used soon at the Historic Quanah City Park!   Quanah Historical Preservation together with Quanah Friends of the Park presents Concert at the Park with a live performance from Vegas Stars beginning at 8:00 PM. Everyone is welcome at this FREE EVENT at the beautiful Historic Quanah City Park.
|
|
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERThe E. Eugene Johnson Memorial Foundation is a Texas non-profit corporation and 501(c)(3) tax exempt public charity (EIN 85-1255191).
|