Building a Peace Park-Our Vision
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Hello, and welcome to our site!
I hope that the narrative below gives you a glimpse on how the Peace Park has come from an
idea to its current reality.
On a recent visit home from Kent State my mother and I were catching up on things that were
happening in the community. When we got onto the subject of our church, Beulah Baptist, I
was asking her about new developments and wanted to know what was happening with the
empty lot next to the church. We had recently raised the parsonage and now there was just an
empty lot.
In wondering what the church was planning to do with the lot, my mother said she thought the
plan was to turn it into a parking lot. This was a strange idea to me, because while the church
could use a parking lot; there has never been one since Beulah Baptist opened its doors in
1914. To me, there had to be a better use of the land that would not only beautify the
community, but put smiles on the faces of passers-by and church members.
As self-proclaimed peace activists, my mother and I feel that anything which creates peace in
our lives and the lives of others is definitely worth exploring. Given Portsmouth’s substantial
drug abuse problem, we began to ponder a solution that would simultaneously increase peace
and eradicate drug use and abuse.
My mother recently visited a friend in Columbus and told me about Serenity Park. On a later
visit that we took together to Serenity Park, we mutually decided that recreating such a park
on Beulah Baptist’s empty lot in Portsmouth was exactly what we were looking to do! From
Serenity Park we took away photographs and a long list of ideas on what our particular project
would look like.
On the following pages, you will learn more about the actual project and how it is coming
together. I hope that you consider purchasing a brick, will come to help out on our service
day, make a donation, and/or visit the Peace Park!
In service and peace,
Gennifer Davis
Project Coordinator
I hope that the narrative below gives you a glimpse on how the Peace Park has come from an
idea to its current reality.
On a recent visit home from Kent State my mother and I were catching up on things that were
happening in the community. When we got onto the subject of our church, Beulah Baptist, I
was asking her about new developments and wanted to know what was happening with the
empty lot next to the church. We had recently raised the parsonage and now there was just an
empty lot.
In wondering what the church was planning to do with the lot, my mother said she thought the
plan was to turn it into a parking lot. This was a strange idea to me, because while the church
could use a parking lot; there has never been one since Beulah Baptist opened its doors in
1914. To me, there had to be a better use of the land that would not only beautify the
community, but put smiles on the faces of passers-by and church members.
As self-proclaimed peace activists, my mother and I feel that anything which creates peace in
our lives and the lives of others is definitely worth exploring. Given Portsmouth’s substantial
drug abuse problem, we began to ponder a solution that would simultaneously increase peace
and eradicate drug use and abuse.
My mother recently visited a friend in Columbus and told me about Serenity Park. On a later
visit that we took together to Serenity Park, we mutually decided that recreating such a park
on Beulah Baptist’s empty lot in Portsmouth was exactly what we were looking to do! From
Serenity Park we took away photographs and a long list of ideas on what our particular project
would look like.
On the following pages, you will learn more about the actual project and how it is coming
together. I hope that you consider purchasing a brick, will come to help out on our service
day, make a donation, and/or visit the Peace Park!
In service and peace,
Gennifer Davis
Project Coordinator
