A Richmond park named for community leader Charles Reid reopened to the public on Saturday with new features.
The Shields-Reid Park nestled in North Richmond has a new performance stage and a new turf field with a scoreboard.
It is also graced with a new children’s play area, fitness zone, habitat garden, zipline and restroom.
When Charles Reid moved to Richmond in the mid-1940s, what was then Shields Park was a dirt field with a rundown playground.
Reid saw a need to guide young Black children away from violence and into sports. He began to host impromptu baseball games at the park with donated equipment.
Reid’s granddaughter, Rosalind Randle, said he was an uplifter in the neighborhood at a time when North Richmond was still developing into a Black community.
“My grandfather didn’t just want to build a physical structure, he wanted to build a sanctuary,” she said.
The city started the park renovation process in 2020 when it hosted planning sessions involving more than 200 residents of the North Richmond community.
Funding for the improvements came from an $8 million state grant and $3.9 million in federal funds.
“This investment today ensures that his work, and the way he meant it, continues at this park,” District 1 Supervisor John Gioia said of Reid Saturday.
Four generations of the Reid family stood on the park’s stage along with city officials and cut the ceremonial ribbon marking the reopening.
“My grandfather always used to say that a community is only as strong as the heart,” Randle said.
