Due to the successful reinstatement of the Northwest Neighborhood Alliance, free Wifi was installed at the park in mid-July.
Until a couple months ago, the Northwest Neighborhood Alliance had disbanded due to inactivity, said Executive Assistant to the Mayor Adrienne Carrico. With their recent reactivation, members of the alliance came together to ask the City what they could do to get free WiFi up and running for Kendall-Perkins Park.
“They’ve been burning a fire since they’ve become reactivated,” Carrico said. “The idea for free WiFi was discussed a few years ago, but it didn’t happen until now. They wanted it for kids in the area who don’t have WiFi in their homes.”
Carrico said there’s a lot of benefits that come with implementing free WiFi for children who utilize the park. Not everyone has WiFi in their homes, she said, making it difficult for some students to complete homework on their laptops. The City has received a couple of complaints about installing free WiFi at the park, but Carrico said the need for it is more prevalent than some people realize.
“The purpose was to give kids a place where they could do their homework,” she said.
Members of the Northwest Neighborhood Alliance raised the funds for the WiFi installation themselves, Carrico said.
“They went to local businesses and collected donations for the equipment. The City did the installation,” she said.
While the free WiFi isn’t password protected, it is monitored in the same way as the City-wide free WiFi. Carrico said those who utilize it won’t be able to access inappropriate sites or apps.
A dedication to celebrate the free WiFi installation was held the first weekend in August. Those wishing to access the free WiFi service on their electronic devices can click on Kendall-Perkins WiFi when they are on the park’s grounds. Kendall-Perkins Park is located at 1201 West Fifth Street.
