Anyone grabbing a midday nap at Veterans Park has soothing music as accompaniment.
Park supervisor Abby Murrell came up with the idea.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Jane Smith
Calming classical music plays daily over the speaker system at Veterans Park in downtown Delray Beach.
Abby Murrell, a self-described world traveler who is the park’s supervisor, came up with the suggestion.
“I love the idea of listening to classical music in an open space,” she said, “because it’s calm and peaceful.”
That’s why she suggested playing the music at the park, where there have been reports of drug use, fights and drunken people sleeping off hangovers, even as families with young children play in the park and older kids take classes inside the recreation center.
In August, the music began playing when the park’s recreation center is open, basically 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily and until 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. The park has an eight-hour CD of the “100 Most Requested Pieces of Classical Music.”
“It’s not intrusive. It’s very calming,” Murrell said.
To prevent people from spending the night in Veterans Park, Police Chief Jeff Goldman told Delray Beach commissioners at their Oct. 24 goal-setting session that the trees have been cut back and pavilion locked overnight. The city also has a law that prohibits loitering in public places after 10 p.m.
At the session, the mayor also asked that the park’s lighting be increased at night to make it less desirable to overnight users.
Lake Worth began playing classical music overnight to decrease activity in its Cultural Plaza. “It sets a calming tone and provides a nice ambience,” said City Manager Mike Bornstein.
When the music began playing in early May, some nearby condo residents complained it was too loud and interrupted their sleep. The music volume has since been lowered.
The classical music that’s played in Veterans Park has an appropriate sound level, Murrell said.
She also talked about classical music’s effects on the brain. Studies have shown it opens pathways in the brain that lead to short-term learning gains. “It makes people smarter,” she said.
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