Letter to the Editor by Sindy Harris – March 2025
CREEKSIDE PARK, located at 215 W. F. Street in Jacksonville, is the park next to the parking lot where the glass recyclable bins are located near Rays Market. This quaint park and its adjoining creek are getting a major face lift! In the last few years, Creekside Park has only seen trees die, be removed, and not replaced. Adjoining Jackson Creek was almost completely obfuscated by blackberry thickets. However, the start of this year began a 3-year project to restore the Creek. This riparian project will take 3 to 5 years to fully remove the blackberries and other invasive plants which have overtaken this neglected creek. Approximately 25 mature trees were also planted along the creek side (with several others added to the park itself) to create shade; shade significantly aids in keeping blackberries at bay. This is a many-year project, so patience is urged; the blackberries will continue to resprout (probably for several years), and semi-annual maintenance to remove them is an integral part of the project and already scheduled.
My name is Sindy Harris, and I am responsible for orchestrating this project. My husband, Steve Morgan, and I restored our own creek (and the City’s side) at S. Third Street and Daisy Lane in 2021, the first year we lived here. In 2022, I orchestrated and paid for the restoration of the creek at 580 Applegate Street; this is the creek next to the marker indicating where gold was first discovered and thereby the inception of our town. In 2023, I funded the landscaping behind Umi Sushi. This year, I am taking on Jackson Creek and Creekside Park. I could not have done these projects without the cooperation of the private landowners and the City of Jacksonville. The city also offers some reimbursement in the form of a $2,000 grant for blackberry abatement. I will be applying for this grant as well as one offered by the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District. However, these programs make only a small dent in the cost of the project. My initial investment so far is $10,000 for the improvements at Creekside Park/Jackson Creek.
I find it rewarding to see our town benefit from the projects I have taken on, but I am not a wealthy woman and will not always be able to take on yearly projects. I would like to see the city (and its businesses and residents) invest more in the environmental beauty of Jacksonville. Lovely parks, streams, and tree-lined streets significantly increase property values, draw tourists to our historic town, and undoubtedly benefit its residents by providing beauty, recreation, and shade. Yet, there are empty tree wells throughout the city that go unplanted year and year, and dead foliage is sadly the norm on many street corners. Town businesses could also do better by keeping their planter boxes full of attractive plants. I would like to believe that we all want a more bucolic setting for our small town. As is often said, it takes a village, and it could not be truer here where everyone’s efforts (and not just a few) are needed to keep streams flowing, trees growing and flowers blooming in Jacksonville.
Creekside Park Restoration 2025 Before