Natchez needs an injection of public fun. That may sound a bit crazy, particularly for a town steeped in its own serious, even austere history, but one of the segments we’re missing in our tourism toolkit is family fun.

Yes, we have some parks, some beautiful parks, but much of the park equipment is often old and has seen better days.

But few of those parks are in really publicly accessible locations. Getting to Duncan Park, for example, requires driving through at least a neighborhood or two.

We’ve often dreamed of how incredible useful it would be to have a small public park, complete with children’s playground near the Natchez bluff.

Natchez YMCA Director Alice Agner seems to see the potential benefit of that location as well. Last week, she applied for a grant to help pay for playground rock walls or a zip line to help expand the recreational options in the area.

Although not cleared by anyone in the city government yet, Agner proposed that some of the equipment might work well somewhere near the Natchez Trails, which run along and beneath the Natchez bluff.

Her suggestion is both smart and refreshing. Too often, as long-time residents, we’ve become accustomed to the way things are here, rather than considering the way thing could be.

While certainly a large part of the bluffs should be kept open and undeveloped green space, certainly a small area either on the bluff or nearby could make an amazing park, which could inject some much needed, youthful fun for visitors with children.

As the FOR Natchez downtown plans continue to gain steam, we hope some consideration will be given to the smallest of our residents and visitors.