By Jordan McKenzie

The Pearce Pocket Park is a vibrant new greenspace at 987 Pearce Street in North Memphis, born from a grassroots vision of neighborhood revitalization. The site, once dotted with residential homes, quickly became an overgrown vacant lot that the CRA and community leaders cleared through several rounds of cleanups, manifesting into a literal blight-to-bloom transformation that rallied local energy.

Located just a few feet away from newly built Habitat for Humanity homes and the Dave Wells Park & Community Center, the pocket park fits into a broader neighborhood resurgence. Dave Wells has been a community anchor, and the proximity of homes built by Habitat for Humanity gives clear context for the unfolding regeneration of this stretch of Pearce Street.

The transformation began in earnest with a well‑attended community meeting on December 16, 2024, where residents, CRA staff, and municipal leaders came together to share ideas and shape the future park. This was built on earlier engagement held throughout September 2024, when neighbors were invited to explore the lot and re-imagine how public space could serve them.

Installed within the park is a winding walking trail and benches crafted by Urban Woods, offering quiet spots to linger. A whimsical puppet theatre stage—part of an artist-led initiative by the Urban Art Commission—will soon be in place, inviting performances and neighborhood gatherings. Fencing creates cozy thresholds, while secured planting beds welcome native perennials and small shrubs. The community-run 901 Fridge, stocked with free food and drinks, will soon stand at the entrance and is open to all. In its culmination, the Greater Community Temple COGIC will be the final owners of the space, keeping the park within control of community stakeholders.

To bring this to life, CRA hired local entrepreneurs and contractors, including Servitude Solutions, whose team (led by Darion Townsend) dug the holes for planting and installed beds with native species at Pearce Park. Memphis Urban Wood (a local urban forestry nonprofit) contributed plant materials and mentorship, helping the park’s palette emerge with climate‑resilient natives and edible landscaping.

Today, Pearce Pocket Park is more than a passive green patch—it’s an intentional canvas for community building, art, food access, and ecological restoration. With the nearby Dave Wells Park, walkable residential streets, and the freshly activated Pearce site, the neighborhood is knitting back together around green space and shared purpose. Visitors find benches for conversation, planted areas for instruction, a loop trail to move through, the puppet theatre for playful events, and the 901 Fridge offering nourishment. In just a few months since the initial clean‑up and design input, the once-abandoned lot has become a dynamic civic asset—anchored by resident voice and powered by local small businesses and nonprofits.