COLUMN: What's The Northport Community Center & Park Debate Really About?

*This is an opinion column*

NORTHPORT, AL — At a time when Northport is undertaking so many costly initiatives and hobbled by bad public relations, few storylines have dominated the public conversation in recent weeks quite like the future of the Northport Community Center and its adjoining park.

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

Patch reported earlier this week that the Umbria Schoolhouse — considered the oldest school building in Alabama — is in the process of being moved from the park to the nearby Shirley Place property in downtown Northport. This comes as the Northport City Council is actively working with Beeker Property Group to undertake due diligence work in the hope of potentially turning the property into the city's newest retail development.

Indeed, the push to redevelop the property has been met with substantial backlash from those in the community, as the City Council prepares to vote on Monday to remove the requirement for a unanimous council vote to sell the community center and park property.

Following the initial decision to enter into due diligence work with Beeker Property Group, which benefited greatly in the way of economic incentives to develop the North Square Plaza next door to City Hall, the public backlash over proposed plans for the park boiled over. In opposition, nearby residents living close to the park have been vocal for the need to preserve the park and let it continue to serve its originally intended purpose.

Keep in mind, many of these same protestors fought against a proposed Krispy Kreme being developed in the location in 2015.

Still, when I was out this week taking photos and videos of the tedious work being done on the Umbria Schoolhouse — which has no real connection with Tuscaloosa County apart from once being owned by Jack Warner — I couldn't help but lament the current state of the park, which includes the Northport Heritage Museum.

I also couldn't help but think if the tall grass and noticeable litter were an honest reflection of a park that those in the community actually want to save.

ALSO READ: Column | 'What We've Got Here Is ... Failure To Communicate'

In the gazebo, for instance, I picked up more than half a dozen empty water bottles, cans of orange Fanta, a few styrofoam cups, and an empty bottle of blue raspberry-flavored Mad Dog 20/20.

And this was just in the gazebo behind the Northport Heritage Museum, which appears to have recently had some repairs to its exterior — noted by the wood coloring yet to be painted the same dark green as the rest of the old building.

Litter is strewn throughout the tall grass of the park, which was, let's say, "snakey," in parts and it's just difficult to see the park in its current state as being the shining, family-friendly amenity that so many claim it to be.

Then I took a closer look at the Northport Community Center property, which wasn't much better.

While the building itself is in presentable shape, at least when it comes to the exterior, it is impossible to look past the rampant litter on the property.

For instance, in one of the hedges lining the parking lot, there was at least a six-pack of empty beer cans stuffed into a bush, as if someone was sitting on the curb and using the hedge for their personal trash can.

Again ... is this the park so many are seeking to protect? What have they done so far, apart from holding signs at a City Council meeting?

Obviously, this is where my questions begin — questions I seriously doubt will be answered by anything other than my own speculation.

Even so, I've spoken with and listened to countless individuals both in private and at public meetings who insist the city is better off preserving the green space and existing amenities.

This would be an easier argument to understand if the aforementioned green space was actually cared for. So what is the reasoning behind the push to save it?

At its core, does the opposition originate from aesthetics?

Is it just because the park is a pretty, distant piece of greenery to see out of one's car window as they drive to and from Northport?

If that is the case, then surely there is a compromise to be found, no?

Or is the opposition more against how the City of Northport does business? In this reporter's opinion and as a Northport resident, that is where my primary concerns focus. This should be a justifiable cause for concern, so why not make that the singular point of protest?

And if some of these folks frothing at the mouth about the park cared as much as they say, then it shouldn't be too much to take just a few minutes out of their busy schedules to go pick up trash and help maintain the green space they profess to love so much.

Nevertheless, I can't help but be a bit confused with the push to preserve a park that no one seems to truly be interested in caring for. It seems, instead, that vagrants are the only ones making any real use of the park and doing a poor job at that.

So I leave you, the reader, with this question:

What is truly at the center of this debate over the future of the property?

Ryan Phillips is an award-winning journalist, editor and opinion columnist. He is also the founder and field editor of Tuscaloosa Patch. The opinions expressed in this column are in no way a reflect of our parent company or sponsors. Email news tips to ryan.phillips@patch.com.