click to enlarge Photo courtesy of Flickr / Paul Sableman.

Windsor Park

North St. Louis' Windsor Park is getting new life, thanks to a project involving police, community leaders and neighbors. Project Take Back Windsor Park aims to restore the north city park as a safe place for kids to enjoy, as KSDK reports Prior to the effort, weeds, drugs and illegal drinking had all become common. But about six weeks ago, St. Louis police officer Jamie Partee decided to do something about it, with a simple first step: She went to the park for lunch to see if anyone else would show up.Her lunch hour eventually expanded into the full-blown project, with what has become a fun weekly gathering of community members in the park. The event includes play time and a free lunch for kids sponsored by various community partners. Visitors have also worked together to clean up the park.Could similar actions produce similar results across the city? Community leaders are hopeful.“This is what real community looks like. People coming together to make things better, to give these neighborhoods and their amenities back to the people who truly need them and deserve them,” North Newstead Association Executive Director Sal Martinez tells KSDK The last summer gathering of Project Take Back Windsor Park will be this Monday, July 31 at 11 a.m. and will include a bounce house and an ice cream truck, courtesy of the St. Louis police and fire departments.