The BlueCross Healthy Place at David Carnes Park is nestled within the Whitehaven suburb of Memphis, TN. Named after a founding father of Whitehaven, who was also the original owner of the site and one of the first Black business owners in the area, the park needed upgrades and maintenance in order to become the family-friendly space local residents envisioned.

This project was the first BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) Healthy Place, a program designed to build active spaces that promote the health and wellbeing of Tennesseans through high-impact parks across the state. The space contains the following elements, which were selected through a variety of community engagement initiatives and placemaking meetings with the community:

Community Initiatives: National Demonstration Site for Inclusion, NatureGrounds, and Pathways for Play

 
Play areas for children ages 2-5 and 5-12 with ramp access, ground-level play, and a unitary rubber safety surface

A family-friendly obstacle course designed for all levels of athleticism

A 40-yard dash with timing system for multigenerational play

An outdoor adult fitness "gym" for easy access to exercise

A splash pad where families can beat the summer heat

At the grand opening, BlueCross President and CEO JD Hickey shared, "Today is a new chapter for David Carnes Park, a site with a long, proud history. At BlueCross, we have a lot of good days serving the people of Tennessee, but today is truly special because we get to give this park back to the people of Whitehaven."

Joe Sawyer, PLA of Barge Design Solutions said about the project, "As Landscape Architects, we look for every opportunity to be part of something that will make an impact and change a community for good. This can be anything from a subtle design feature to an overhaul of a dated park into a park that not only brightened and electrified the community but also added to the community's quality of life. I didn't choose this profession for awards and accolades; I chose it because it is fulfilling and because I get to be a part of something that is meaningful to so many. Working on the BlueCross Healthy Place at David Carnes Park provides each of those opportunities and so much more to me and our other Landscape Architects."

This project was grounded in research provided by the Center for Outreach, Research, and Education (CORE), the service arm of PlayCore that has been putting research into practice for over 20 years. Working with their Research Institute as well as a team of noted scholars, experts, and universities, CORE translates validated research into best-practice resources across a variety of disciplines. Their resource library contains more than 50 design, programming, and advocacy guides and tools for designers, planners, and advocates to utilize in their practice. These resources can be used in diverse ways, including designing and programming meaningful play and recreation destinations, selecting family-friendly plants for their play value, and advocating for and gathering input on projects in the planning stage.

One of the main components of the design stage at David Carnes Park was CORE's National Demonstration Site (NDS) program, which helps Landscape Architects and relevant stakeholders make informed decisions, understand park usage, grow public spaces, support health-related initiatives, and share impact data for public environments designed and built with evidence-based practices. Sites like this one participate in ongoing data collection and receive reports measuring their impact on Community Vitality, including demographics, visitor trends, and health impact. The reports, prepared by the Data Service Lab, are framed around the Community Vitality Framework, which highlights the seven essential elements of a vital community: Community Engagement; Public Services; Environment; Education; Social & Emotional Health; Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; Physical Health & Lifestyle Behaviors. Grounded in research, the framework was developed to help create and share case-making stories and provide a common approach for understanding and accelerating the positive impacts of a thriving, healthy community.