"Public Safety" v. "Public Park"

That's how the question was posted around the buildings owned and operated by the United House of Prayer (UHOP) for a public meeting tonight organized by Council Member Jack Evans and Department of Parks and Recreation Director Clark Ray.  The meeting was called as a follow up to at least two other meeting in the past year on the future of the park on the 600 Block of N Street NW.  This is a park that has been desolate for at least three decades with broken basketball hoops and nonfunctioning lighting (until recently), and the location of one murder about two years ago. 

The set purpose of the meeting was to discuss plans to finally renovate the park.  Facing community pressure, Council Member Evans had pledged to secure about $150k to $200k immediate through reprogramming Ward 2 leftovers from other park renovations for the design phase and to seek $1 million for rebuilding the park.  The last meeting was held in mid-December at the Kennedy Recreation Center.  Attendance was relatively sparse, but it did include 3 of 4 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, the presidents of ECCA and MVSNA, and a UHOP representative.  It was decided at that meeting that a survey would be distributed through the ANC and community organizations to gather additional feedback on what should be placed in the park -- i.e. basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground for small children, benches, etc.  The meeting tonight was to provide the results of that survey and gather additional feedback.

The meeting turned into something very different: it focused solely on whether the city would agree to sell the park to UHOP for an unstated purpose.  About 100 people attended the meeting.  Of about 20 speakers, all but 3 identified themselves as UHOP members.  In the view of most of those who attended, the "park" (several participants did not acknowledge the area as parkland, but as a nuisance property) has led to nothing but crime and should be sold to UHOP so they can make the neighborhood safer.  Speakers noted that the Kennedy Recreation Center provides facilities just a block away and that city money would be better invested in that park or in improving what is supposed to be the Carter G. Woodson park at 9th and Q.  UHOP would make an unsolicited offer to purchase the land through an unsolicited offer to purchase the land as an adjacent landowner.  Several residents suggested that they would vote out Council Member Evans if he did not support their request to purchase the park.

Director Ray eventually gave up trying to refocus discussion on park improvements, noting decisions on sale of public property are outside his control.  Council Member Evans noted that sale of park land is unprecedented in DC history and did not think the current administration likely to support such a proposal.  Eventually, UHOP led a "vote" as to whether those in attendance supported Bishop Madison's request for the city to sell the park to UHOP.  About 85 or 90 of the 100 in attendance stood up to show their support.  Council Member Evans closing words make it seem likely that the park will remain in its dilapidated state for the next thirty years: "We are going to move forward without moving forward," he said.

What do you think?  Is there a choice between public parks and public safety?  Should the land on the 600 Block of N Street get a $1 million facelift as a park OR should it be sold to UHOP for affordable housing or other purposes?