North Heights celebrates six new creative crosswalks in community

The North Heights Advisory Association unveiled the six new creative crosswalks that were done within the community Thursday.

Potter County Commissioner Warren Coble was on hand to see the finished project and reflected on its completion.

“The North Amarillo Advisory Association has been working on this for some time," he said. "They met a few problems, but they worked through those problems. I see a lot of people driving by these crosswalks smiling as they see them."

Coble thanked community members for their hard work in getting this project done for the community.

“It's a form of community unity, and I am glad that James Allen, Melodie Graves, Chris Jackson, the neighborhood planner for Amarillo, and many others worked so hard to get this done. They are the real workers, and I am just out to support their work," he added.

He said that he sees these crosswalks as symbolic of the neighborhood's pride and a good first step in revitalizing the historic community.

“Looking at these creative crosswalks throughout North Heights just makes me smile. This is just something creative to remind us of who we are,” Coble said. “This is our community, and we are going to have to take care of our community. Every step matters. No matter how small the stepping stone is, it's still a stepping stone. I hope when people look at these crosswalks, they think we are getting there."

Melodie Graves, president of the North Heights Advisory Association, said this is a positive first step for the neighborhood.

“For this park and the North Heights area, this is monumental. The North Heights Advisory Association focuses on preservation, development and revitalization. The sidewalks that we have installed are part of community pride. Restoring pride in our community is particularly important, which is just step one.”

Graves emphasized the importance of the safety aspect of the creative crosswalks.

“What happens when crosswalks are created? People know that's where they are going to walk, and with a picture of these crosswalks, people will stop further away and look at the crosswalks, which will allow people to walk across the street in a safe manner," she added.

Graves stressed that this is just one small piece of a bigger puzzle regarding the revitalization of North Heights.

“These crosswalks are just the start of things, with us now working on getting 26 streetlights placed across North Heights," she said. "We will also be working on adding some sidewalks down 18th Avenue to make our community more walkable.”

One of the big issues for Graves and the advisory association is to work on the appearance of the neighborhoods.

"We want to restore our community's hope by changing its appearance," she said. "Once we complete these projects, we will start discussing housing and housing development and cleaning up our community. We want to see what can happen when we all come together."

Next Thursday, the North Heights Advisory Board will meet with interim city manager Floyd Hartman, who will give a presentation at the Black Historical Center in North Heights. The meeting will be about water accessibility, pressure, and quality in North Heights. Graves stressed that the more people who participate in the meeting, the more residents will be informed and able to create change.

Graves said that this was part of the original North Heights Neighborhood Plan under Mildred Darden to revitalize and bring pride to the community. She thanked Jackson, who helped as the city planner from Amarillo, for working toward these initiatives as soon as he started his position with the city.

“Chris really wanted to get this moving forward, and this is one of the initiatives that we believed we could see progress on in a short amount of time. We are pleased to see it come to fruition for the neighborhood,” she added.

When asked what she would say to the residents of the North Heights about the lack of infrastructure and quality of life improvements in the area over the years, Graves said, “Frederick Douglas said that if there is no struggle, there is no progress. Progress comes in many different forms and yes, we have issues with water pressure and many other deficiencies in our community. We are going to address those things, but these crosswalks are a symbol of progress. It is a symbol that we are actually out here in the weeds getting things done, and we will continue to work with the city to make sure the North Heights neighborhood is a viable, beautiful part of Amarillo."

Speaking about choosing an area artist from the community, Graves said it was important to show some of the amazing artwork being done in the community and all around Amarillo.

“Our arts community is so strong and creates such beauty,” she added.

Jackson, who has been with the city of Amarillo for two years, said that these types of projects are not that prevalent in the state.

“Community crosswalks are not just new to our community, but they are kind of new to the state of Texas in general,” he said. “Many cities have seen our work in the San Jacinto neighborhood and now will see it in the North Heights. There really has not been a guidepost on how to do community crosswalks, but I hit the ground running, working with the neighborhood association and the North Heights Advisory Association to figure out not only what they wanted to see, but how realistic it was to make that happen. Thankfully, we were able to deliver on that.”

According to Jackson, the overall cost of the creative crosswalk project was about $42,000 for all six crosswalks. He emphasized that most of that was the material cost to make this project happen.

Jackson said that the city supported Jones's choice to do the street murals because of his previous work and commitment to the community as a young Black artist.

“We had seen some of his work and thought that he could do a great job taking this art from the canvas and make it presentable on the streets,” he said. “The final product looks great; it seems the more I see these projects happen, the more impressed I become each time. This project is a little different because of the different materials used to make the creative crosswalk more resilient than others that have been installed. With this, he was able to do more with the pictures. These school logos look amazing when put on the crosswalks.”

He said he is satisfied with how the project turned out but recognizes that bigger issues in the North Heights neighborhood must be addressed.

“We are trying to figure out solutions to many of the issues that plague this area and what we need in our neighborhoods,” Jackson said. “What is next is a streetlight project initiative to work to brighten up intersections and mid-block lighting to make things safer for those pedestrians that live here. We are also instituting a very wide sidewalk infrastructure to promote safe access to pedestrians and lighting to be able to view and navigate their neighborhood more easily.”

Jackson hopes that the messages on the crosswalks will resonate with the Amarillo community because of their inherent meanings.

“We want everyone, especially the youth, to know these are the messages that we want them to have available to them,” Jackson said. “I just want people to know if you want to be a part of more community revitalization projects to make the community even greater than it already stands in North Heights, please reach out to the North Heights Advisory Association."