RECENT COMMENTS

Fairmount Community Meeting

About 25 people turned out Saturday morning for a community meeting sponsored by the New Vision Civic League for the south end of Fairmount. The meeting included: a discussion of the community desires for development at Nine Mile and 25th, led by Lynn Mcateer of Better Housing Coalition; Cpt.Ronca, Lt.King, and Lt.Harrison of the First Precinct fielded community concerns about drug sales and prostitution; and plans were made to move on tree planting and a neighborhood clean-up.

The New Visions Civic League was founded in 1993 by a group of ling-time residents of the area bounded by Fairmount, 25th Street, Venable Street, and Mosby Street. With “more than 50 years” in the neighborhood, these residents had seen their formerly beautiful neighborhood become blighted and banded together to fight the decline. Fifteen years later, partnerships with organizations such as Better Housing Coalition and the implementation of the Neighborhoods in Bloom program have led to the construction of blocks of new houses and a renewed positive direction for the community.

Even with the new houses and a mix of dedicated new and longtime residents, residents, Fairmount is an area that faces many challenges. Entrenched drug sales (and related violence) and prostitution activity have been difficult to eradicate. Towards cementing and augmenting the achievements of the past 15 years, the meeting today was intended to draw out new neighbors and put together an idea of actions and directions for the community and the New Vision Civic Association.

Several concrete accomplishements came from the nearly 2 1/2 hour meeting. The new officers at the First Precinct made it to the meeting, promised to target a specific drug hotspot, and will return to next month’s meeting to discuss the results. Plans were made to move towards spring tree planting and a neighborhood clean-up. A survey will be designed to gauge the interests of the remainder of the community, and a neighborhood fair of some type is tentatively scheduled for May or June.

New Vision Civic League meets every first Saturday at the Solomon Temple at 1118 North 18th Street. Contact Mary W. Thompson at (804)648-7915 or mwthompson111@aol.com for more information about the New Vision Civic League.