The Reilly Park neighbors speak

Even though it was cold and rainy, several neighbors turned out to talk with us about their vision for the future of Reilly Park. We even had an impromptu visit by Council Member Greg Casar, who happened to be walking his dog past the park at the time! He stopped by and chatted with us about how we could make Reilly a real gathering space for the neighborhood.

Alyson talking about the potential for Reilly Park to become a real urban park.

We asked the neighbors to write down their wishes for what they would like to see in the park. Some answers surprised us, but they were all great ideas. Some of the things we heard:

• Splash Pad!

• Baby/ toddler swings

• More shade

• Flower gardens

• Covered picnic tables

• Tennis and volleyball courts

• Off-leash dog park

• Community garden

• Walking/ running/ bike trail

• Movie nights

• Farmers Market

• Working water fountain! (the current one is broken)

• More trash cans

• Bridge over Waller Creek that connects to the Airport multi-use path

• Better basketball goals/ sport court

• Fewer fences

• No chain link, nicer gates

• Fitness stations

Neighbors wrote down their wishes for their neighborhood park.

Many people didn’t know that Reilly is a public park, not just a school yard, although people do currently use it to walk their dogs, play in the tot lot, or attend Camp Gladiator classes. The consensus was that the park should feel more inviting, and contain uses that encourage people to wander in from the surrounding neighborhood.

The next step is to take these comments and create a diagram that includes these uses in the park. We’ll then meet with the City to determine how to possibly funnel some funding into Reilly to make some of these improvements a reality!

We’re just getting started! If you are interested in joining us, or just putting in a good word, you can join our Friends of Reilly Park group on Nextdoor.