ST. LOUIS — Forest Park has two golf courses, a tennis center, a cricket field, soccer and rugby fields, baseball and softball diamonds, fishing ponds, an ice rink and a boathouse, but not one basketball court. But that could be changing in the near future.
By 2024, the sweet sound of net swishes might be heard coming from behind the visitor's center. There are still some hoops to jump through.
According to the timeline posted on Forest Park Forever's site, the next step is design development and then design approval. Before construction begins, both the City of St. Louis and the Forest Park Advisory Board have to approve the plan.
"You can play it with friends," young basketball fan Emory Early tells 5 On Your Side, "a small pick-up game at a park or something, it's just a fun sport to do whenever."
Up until a few years ago, the only way Emory could play a pick-up game at the park was if his dad brought the hoop.
"I thought the easiest way to bring one in was to attach it to my car," Emory's dad John tells 5 On Your Side as he slid a metal pole and hoop into the hitch receiver of his minivan, "Lots of balls hitting the car in every single spot, but nothing's ever been broken or shattered or dented."
Yes, John's a dad, but his basketball hoop car wasn't only for his son. During the pandemic, he was talking to fellow Washington University colleague Noah Cohan.
"We were talking about the lack of basketball in Forest Park and why that was and if there was anything we could help do about it," John Early said.
Being the visual artist that he was, the car basketball hoop was born and so was the Instagram-based research and advocacy account Whereas Hoops, which is dedicated to bringing the sport to St. Louis' crown jewel.
"Forest Park touts itself as an urban park, a city park, and yet doesn't have the most popular sport in urban areas," John Early said, "seems to be a pretty glaring omission and one that we're happy to say is hopefully being rectified."
Thanks to his work, Forest Park is closer to getting real basketball courts. The next step is design development, approval and then construction could start later this year.
When it's done, Emory Early will be there.
"I just like shooting myself, like hearing the swish especially."
John Early's research is unique, it's a mix of traditional work and art, he explains, "While all research generates knowledge, not all knowledge is textual or qualitative. Some knowledge is experiential and embodied, and the fields of art and design are particularly well positioned to produce visual and spatial forms of knowledge that speak to our lived experience in the world in ways that more traditional research cannot."
According to data posted on Forest Park Forever's page for the basketball courts, 71% of visitors to the park said they would play basketball there...if there was somewhere to play it. 26% of those asked said they would play weekly.
