Richmond Park Avenue in the once-upscale Richmond Park, St Andrew. Both small and large commercial enterprises have mushroomed in the residential community. - photos by Ian Allen/Photographer

WHEN ASPIRING Preston Tabois moved to Richmond Park from rural Chapelton, Clarendon, in 1979, he was struck by the serenity of the St Andrew neighbourhood.

"It was a very organised area. Neighbours were close, you saw families pushing trolleys with their children in the evenings," said Tabois, who is now president of the Richmond Park Citizens' Association.

Forty years ago, Richmond Park, along with Vineyard Town, Havendale, Meadowbrook and Eastwood Park Gardens, ranked among Kingston's distinctly middle-class communities where civil servants, teachers and nurses lived.

Like their counterparts in those once-thriving areas, Richmond Park's elders long for a return to the glory days. Urban spread and commercial activity threaten to consume the neighbourhood which borders the crime-ridden centres of Maxfield and Chisholm avenues, and Waltham Park Road.

businesses abound

Tabois reckons 50 per cent of homes in Richmond Park are occupied by businesses - from printeries to garages and construction companies. This commercial groundswell, he says, is the biggest concern for residents.

"They are totally against it, some of these businesses attract a lot of unknown persons," Tabois said. He stated that they have had several meetings with Member of Parliament Dr Peter Phillips to discuss the issue.

Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie has taken several garages in Richmond Park to task. He said operators have breached the Town and Country Planning Act, which prohibits persons from operating businesses in residential areas without permission from the municipality, in this case, the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation.

oldest landmarks

Ironically, one of Richmond Park's oldest landmarks is a business - an educational one. The Rose Gordon Preparatory School was opened at Montgomery Avenue in 1960 by Dorcas May Rose, and is still going strong, with more than 200 students.

Rose's son, Melton Lynch, currently oversees the school, along with his cousin, Valerie Gordon. They are wary of the growing commercial presence in Richmond Park, which they partially blame for the rise in petty crimes.

"We see a lot of strange faces going through the area all the time. I don't go out in the evenings," Gordon said.

Superintendent Derrick Knight is head of the St Andrew Central Police Division which encompasses Richmond Park. He says many of the 'strange faces' Gordon and other Richmond Park residents see are responsible for robberies in their community.

"Richmond Park is not on our radar in terms of serious crime, but you find that outsiders from lower Chisholm Avenue and Whitfield Town ride through (on bicycles) the area and commit crimes," Knight said.

Those crimes include cellphone and jewellery theft, and breaking into houses. Knight says his squads are also monitoring a blossoming cocaine trade on Chisholm Avenue.

no major crimes

The Trinity Moravian Church, also located on Montgomery Avenue, is another Richmond Park mainstay and a stone's throw from Chisholm Avenue. The Reverend Trevor Dawkins, who has been pastor there for six years, agrees with Knight that crime has not reached a stage where the panic button should be pushed.

"It's nothing on a major scale, every now and again someone will steal a cellphone," Dawkins said.

Although many of his just over 220 members no longer live in Richmond Park, they are still concerned about the illicit behaviour of some of their younger 'neighbours'. It has not been frightening enough, however, to stop weekly choir practice and Bible study at the church, which goes on as late as 11:30 p.m.

Dawkins says the church has reached out to many youths from Maxfield and Chisholm avenues by enrolling them in its skills-training centre, which is jointly operated by HEART Trust/NTA.

Superintendent Knight says with criminals from Maxfield and Chisholm avenues and Waltham Park Road threatening, he plans to increase meetings with the citizens of Richmond Park.

"That's one of my main plans for 2010, to have more dialogue with them. Things have not reached the worrying stage yet, but it's cause for concern," he said.

One of the traditional homes on Richmond Park Avenue in Richmond Park, St Andrew.

Like many former residential communities in St Andrew, Richmond Park is home to several businesses. This is a section of Queens Avenue.