'Not in my neighborhood': Residents near Nur Pon Open Space celebrate transformation

Mike Chapman
Redding Record Searchlight

One National Night Out block party took on added significance Tuesday night as residents celebrated a rejuvenation of their neighborhood.

About 75 people attended a barbecue at the newly cleaned up Nur Pon Open Space off Henderson Road in Redding where there was a collective relief that homeless campers had been run off.

Bill Spencer, left, serves a plate to Shirlene Mantei during the National Night Out block party at Nur Pon Open Space on Tuesday evening, Oct. 4, 2022.

Some 60 employees using 30 pieces of equipment spent about a week in August transforming the open space from a maze of homeless encampments in the trees and bushes to a welcoming riverside park with security fencing.

Redding Community Services Director Kim Niemer said the park along the Sacramento River is now calmer and friendlier.

Kim Niemer, director of community services

"This neighborhood has had a lot going on in this space and we are really pleased that we're able to reopen it," Niemer said.

Also attending the block party was Mayor Kristen Schreder, REU Director Nick Zettel and Redding Police Chief Bill Schueller.

Two of the city's new park rangers were present. Schueller said two more will be hired soon. Also, two members of the police bike team attended and the chief said two more of those officers will be hired this fall to patrol downtown, trails and parks.

Redding Police Chief Bill Schueller talks with Henderson Road area neighbors during a National Night Out block party on Tuesday evening, Oct. 4, 2022.

"They're making a big impact on our downtown area, putting a lot of bad people in jail," Schueller said of the bike officers.

Schueller shared crime statistics with the neighbors, saying the department received 80 calls for service in the block last year but said there were more incidents that weren't reported.

"I guarantee you there were a lot more than 80 calls for service in the theft range ... that you guys weren't calling on, probably just out of sheer frustration," the chief said.

Neighborhood Watch Capt. Pam Hamar, who co-hosted the barbecue with the city, thanked city officials for the progress.

Neighborhood Watch and the city of Redding hosted a National Night Out block party at the Nur Pon Open Space on Tuesday evening, Oct. 4, 2022.

"We've been fighting the battle for a long time and it's been really nice to see what has transpired down here. The city has done an amazing job," she said.

Hamar said she joined Neighborhood Watch five years ago when there was a drug house behind her. "I thought, 'Not in my neighborhood.'"

She said neighbors in the Henderson Road area banded together and started a Facebook page to fight crime and blight. They measured their progress by getting rid of two to three drug houses and eliminating abandoned cars and illegally parked motorhomes.

Pam Hamar, Henderson Neighborhood Watch Captain

One neighbor thanked city officials for possibly raising home values near the open space.

The Nur Pon gathering was one of about two dozen around the city Tuesday evening. Many cities celebrate National Night Out in August but Redding chooses the alternate national date because it's too hot in the summer.

Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.