Email Campaign for Hillcrest Park

Hi Dean Highlanders,

I trust your summer is going well. We on the DHNA board just wanted to remind you that the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association fought for a park at the Hillcrest location about 10 years ago. We were told by city council then that there were plenty of other green spaces nearby to enjoy.

I recently received the same reply while trying to get a humble footpath installed over at Wenz Park, and it reminded me of just how precarious our park situation is. I spent 12 months making phone calls, writing emails, and researching history only to get a short, curt email stating that there are plenty of other nearby options for myself and my family to enjoy in Waco.

We might get the same response from the City for our Hillcrest Park advocacy if we don’t continue to keep pressure on Baylor, Scott, and White and our City representatives.

So, we are calling on all Dean Highland residents to send an email to our City Council representative, Darius Ewing, reminding him that he works for us and that we want a world-class park in the space that is currently occupied by an empty lot. If you’re not confident in your writing prowess, just copy-and-paste this:

Dr Dear Mr. Ewing,

The Dean Highland Neighborhood Association is committed to bringing a 14-acre, world-class park to the empty Hillcrest lot.

We are here to collaborate and bargain, not grovel for slivers of green space. Please ensure, Mr. Councilman, that Dean Highlanders get the respect and dignity they deserve when it comes to this space. As of today, this has not happened. The lot is still empty. The garbage is still piling up. And the intent of the land’s donors — a vast space for the public good – has not been met and may even be considered to be actively ignored by City actors and Baylor, Scott, and White.

You depend on me for my vote, and I am actively paying attention to how you treat my neighborhood and the ongoing Hillcrest Park debacle.

Feel free to “cc” the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association to the email you send to our councilman, too. Mr. Ewing’s email address is ccouncil4@wacotx.gov, and our email address is deanhighlandwaco@gmail.com.

This is our neighborhood Dean Highlanders, and sometimes we have to fight for what is ours.

Our next Dean Highland Conservancy Initiative service project, by the way, is on August 8th. Mark your calendars!