ST. LOUIS – A nonprofit organization is taking the initiative to bring more parks and recreational areas to different communities.
We’re at the new West End Park. It’s part of Pocketparks, a non-profit organization established in 2021, that reimagines and redevelops unused plots of land to provide communities with recreational areas.
President and founder of Pocketparks Samantha Lee Smugala said each park is designed to meet the specific needs of the neighborhood in which it is located. Every park incorporates three things: activity, artwork, and opportunity. Pocketparks are small but make a big impact.
Pocketparks is currently working to develop six different parks in the St. Louis area with four already in progress including Vessel Park located under the MLK Bridge on Laclede’s Landing Blvd.; the Urban Sunflower Field at the corner of Forest Park Parkway and Vandeventer, which will be reimagined for next year; DUC Park on 10th and Locust Streets which is open and accessible while in phase one; and West End Park located at 5900 Clemens Ave. which had its ribbon cutting on October 23.
