NEW ORLEANS — WWL Louisiana previously reported some city leaders push to revitalize Hardin Park in the Seventh Ward. Now a football star and a community advocate are using their voices to help get action now rather than later.
You could say Hardin Park found Tyrone Hughes, he told WWL Louisiana that, "Hardin Park raised me."
He went on to say, "I just happened to have a coach, Leroy Hawkins at the time who came and saw me playing in the park and he asked me to come out and start playing football."
His footprints in the 7th Ward park carved his way to football's national stage, to where he now sits as a Saints Hall of Famer. He and many others are now watching the demise of a space so sacred to them.
Hughes said, "Back in the day they had a swimming pool, back in the day they had a basketball court with a cover over it."
Hardin Park has immeasurable value. Fast forward to today, according to Daniel Shanks from the Orleans Parish DA's office, the area is riddled with crime.
Shanks said, "In 1941 it was the first recreational facility dedicated for youths for African American children." He went on to say last year, "We saw homicides, we saw armed robberies, we saw shootings."
Shanks, who also leads NODICE - New Orleans Data Informed Community Engagement - an initiative that aims at reducing crime in community areas - says the key is addressing root causes by involving the community.
"When the park is vacant when the park is not being utilized, when there are not things on there, bad elements are going to utilize this space for their activities," Shanks said.
Calvin Pep once played basketball in the park, but as years went by shadows of the streets loomed. As a teen, he was sentenced to juvenile life for burglary. Then darker days hovered over him, and so did addiction.
"I was shot out there... I got stabbed in my back with what the doctor said appears to be an ice pick, and it punctured my lung...," Pep said. "By the time I was making it to the hospital, I just heard them say, we losing them. When I got up, my mother was sitting there.. she was sitting there saying, Man, you was gone, baby, you got to change your life, you know," he said.
Thinking back about the park, he said, "The park has always been like a safe haven, right? And always had something for us to do, you know, that deterred us from doing other things."
Pep now clean 28 years, found redemption, and is dedicating his life to bettering others. That includes bringing back programs to Hardin Park.
He said, "If children have an idle mind, they don't have the right guidance, and they find themselves in all kinds of struggles, right? And one of the things with me was my mother was poor, and she had five children... she couldn't provide the things that we needed.
"And guess what? That's the same scenario that young people are giving me now. You know they need things," Pep said.
Hughes agrees, and that's why he's using his voice to help, he said, "Trying to reach out to other NFL guys or even other players from our association chapter to see about painting the concession stand and raising money to put up the cover of the basketball court."
The city is calling on volunteers and coaches to bring sports back to the park. To find out how to volunteer head to the NORD website.
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Video: Push to revitalize 7th Ward's historical Hardin Park
