Musical parklet opens at Coal Chute Pond off FAMU Way

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer

Robert Allen showed up at Coal Chute Pond Park with a few mallets in his pocket. He had his son, Solomon, in tow.

The father-son duo came for the grand opening of a music parklet adjacent to the pond, along FAMU Way. At one point, Allen and his son played the grand marimba simultaneously.

Others who came out last Wednesday for the debut of the project that Blueprint partnered on with the Knight Creative Communities Institute tinkered with the instruments. Officials have labeled the area Red Hills Rhythm musical parklet.

“It’s very profound that people can come here and they can be exposed to music and grow,” Allen said. “It’s all about growth.”

The project is the outcome of several months of planning and working with a catalyst of volunteers, according to Betsy Couch, executive director of Knight Creative Communities Institute. They also engaged students from Pineview Elementary School, some who showed up for the event. 

Instruments in the parklet include the tutti, grand marimba table, thunder drums and pentatonic tempo. A row of tubular bells are set up about 100 yards away in another area.

While the volunteers considered music and musicians such as Nat and Cannonball Adderley  who grew up in the area around FAMU Way, the students were also influential, Couch said.

“When you talk to kids about what they want to see in an interactive space, one constantly kept bubbling up was music,” Couch said. “Kids want to play on things, they want to make noise and that’s when our team knew we were in the right direction. All we wanted to do was something that really honored our deep-rooted music history. We really wanted this to be a creative space that brings all different types of people together. It has been so exciting.”

Private donors gave $35,000 and Oliver Sperry and Associated did the installation as an in-kind donation, Couch said.

The parklet creates “an immersive musical experience,” said Tatiana Daguillard, a KCCI catalyst team member and project manager on the FAMU Way history culture trail. The musical instruments enhances the area as a destination, she said.

“People are going to come to Coal Chute Pond for the musical instruments,” Daguillard said. “This just adds another experience along FAMU Way.”

 The parklet also adds to quality of life in the city, said Brad Ashwell, a musician who also volunteered on the project. 

The parklet represents “vital culture, (and) a place that invites people to learn and enjoy,” said Ashwell. “I think that’s how this place adds a lot of value to the community.”