The Charleston Urban Renewal Authority introduced its new executive director at its meeting Wednesday.
Ron Butlin, 59, recently left his position as the executive director of the Downtown Improvement Board in Pensacola, Florida.
A native of Southern California, Butlin has about 30 years of experience working in real estate lending and downtown revitalization.
His background includes several years as a vice president and manager of Wells Fargo Bank, where he handled lending for commercial construction projects.
Butlin also spent four years in Colorado Springs as executive director of the city's Downtown Partnership, which included marketing its business improvement district and economic development group.
In Pensacola, the organization Butlin headed managed programs for marketing, beautification, safety, transportation and economic development.
Former CURA executive director Jim Edwards is showing Butlin the ropes for the next several days.
"You guys have done some exciting stuff, and I couldn't be happier to be involved going forward," Butlin told the board.
CURA also voted on Wednesday to donate a piece of property on the West Side to the city of Charleston.
Cpl. Errol Randle, the Charleston Police Department's strategic planning officer and head of Project West Invest, proposed a new park in the 1200 block of Washington Street West, at the corner of Beatrice Street.
CURA owns the property, which is just under four-tenths of an acre.
Randle showed the board renderings of the new park created by ZMM Architects. It would have playground equipment for children, but also a concrete walking trail around the park's perimeter.
Randle pointed to a report released earlier this year by the Kanawha Institute for Social Research & Action (KISRA), which found that almost half of the West Side residents who were surveyed have hypertension.
A walking trail would give those residents a place to get active in their own neighborhood, he said.
"Our kids need places to play and call theirs and be excited about. It means they're in a place where they feel safe, that's representative of their community and where they're from," Randle said.
From a law enforcement perspective, Randle said the location of the park would be perfect because it's easily visible from the road for officers patrolling the area, it's well lit and has multiple access points from Washington and Beatrice streets.
In the park's green space, Randle said, they hope to install artificial turf instead of planting grass because "it'll never be a mud pit, and it's always aesthetically pleasing to the eye when you drive by."
After working with Adam Krason, with ZMM Architects, Randle said the firm has offered to raise the money needed to pay for and install the artificial turf.
The park could also be used to host movie nights and other community events.
The city has agreed to maintain the park when it comes to fruition.
Rev. Ron Stoner, president of the West Side Neighborhood Association, also voiced his support for the project.
"This could be a really positive addition to the West Side ... we want to [do] whatever we can to make this happen."
While Magic Island and the Second Avenue Community Center exist on the West Side, there are few playgrounds or green spaces for children who live closer to Washington Street West or on the West Side Hill.
Randle said he plans to reach out to various organizations in the coming weeks to raise money to fund the new park, such as Charleston Main Streets, the Kanawha Valley Council on Philanthropy and the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation. It's still unclear how much the park would cost.
CURA voted unanimously to donate the property to the city, but if efforts to fund and build the park are unsuccessful, it will revert back to the board's ownership.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.