Bannon Park

Overview
A rundown neighborhood of dilapidated older homes, Bannon Park takes its name from a nearby park honoring a pioneer San Angelo banker.

Houses in the area recall the 1930s, with detached garages, gravel driveways and wooden clapboard siding. But peeling paint, sagging foundations and overgrown yards betray years of neglect at many homes. Vacant weed-covered lots, sometimes surrounded by rusted chain-link fences, are not uncommon. Piles of abandoned furniture and other debris are frequent sights along the streets, which are plagued by flooding problems in the winter. A mix of residents live in the neighborhood, from elderly original homeowners to younger families seeking low-cost housing.

Many houses are inexpensive rentals–owned by absentee landlords who have moved up to better neighborhoods. Boxy, low rent apartments, often roach- or rat-infested, are also scattered here and there in the neighborhood.

A few old-fashioned corner groceries can be found among the convenience stores, liquor marts and bars constituting most of the local commercial scene.

Veterans Memorial Hospital, an imposing but age-worn facility constructed in the 1940s, looms over the shadowed streets and decrepit homes of the neighborhood. Many Bannon Park residents are employed at the hospital, though typically in low-paying jobs as laundry workers, orderlies or janitors.

Crime
Crime has become a serious concern in Bannon Park. Crack dealing and gang-related violence were rampant in the late 1990s. The Northside Posse was the largest independent street gang in the area. Sets of the Nomads and Prophets street gangs were also active.

The city police department has assigned neighborhood police officers to help residents retake their streets and park, and numerous Neighborhood Watch associations have formed in recent months despite threats by the gangs.

History
This neighborhood was built in the 1930s. Despite its moneyed name, the neighborhood fell on hard times in the 1980s and '90s.

In spite of the determination of some residents to fight back, Bannon Park remained a dark, dangerous place shunned by other San Angelinos through the end of the 21st century.

Notable Items
Text

Appearances
San Angelo: City of Heroes (1998)