fter complaints, the play list at Largo Central Park has been changed from oldies and show tunes to meditative, instrumental music.
By LORRI HELFAND
Published September 4, 2003
LARGO - Largo Central Park has changed its tune.
A month ago, music - all kinds of music - started playing throughout the sprawling downtown park, courtesy of a $10,000 outdoor sound system.
Sit on a bench and you might hear Johnny Cash.
Push your kid in a swing and listen to B.B. King.
Show tunes. Oldies. World music. Jazz. You really could get an earful.
But last week, things changed. In a big way.
Now, you hear the mellow sounds of Enya's On Your Shore and Zen Garden: Refreshing Winds or piano concertos of Night Moods: Solo Journey.
On Mondays and Saturdays, there is no music. Those are the days the music died.
So what happened?
Well, people complained. And Largo's leaders changed the play list.
They opted for meditative, instrumental music with a classical bent.
"Like any new program, you kind of try a couple of things," explained Recreation Parks and Arts Department director Joan Byrne. "This probably had the broadest appeal."
Some park visitors still aren't happy. They want no music at all.
"I suppose I'm a dinosaur. I like peace and quiet in the park," said Rena Stevens, 58, of Largo. Stevens, president of Friends of Largo Library and a library volunteer, said she often walks through the park in the afternoon but will limit her outings to quiet days.
Barry L. Cobb takes his kids to the park twice a month. He wrote to the city about his disdain for the loud music. It "destroyed" his visits, he said.
"If I want to listen to music, I can do so in my home or car," Cobb replied to the Times by e-mail. "Why must it be forced upon me if I want to supervise my children's play? "
The naysayers didn't outnumber the fans of the music, Byrne said.
"We've had a handful of strong complaints and dozens of comment cards saying, "I love the music,' " she said.
Wednesday, park regular Joanne Lord, 41, said she enjoyed the music before and doesn't mind the park's new mellow sound either.
"I don't know how they choose what music to play, but I enjoy it," said Lord, who lives in unincorporated Pinellas.
Her friend Julie Martinez, 32, said music works wonders on her kids at the park and at home.
"It's important for kids to have music anyway. It relaxes them," said Martinez, who lives in Largo.
