First round down, more to go for public outreach campaign to shape future of Fayetteville parks

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Daniel Gibson, 8, laughs Friday while swinging on the swings with his mother, Amanda Griffith of Fayetteville at Wilson Park in Fayetteville. The Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department has finished the first round of surveys for its Imagine Tomorrow´s Parks campaign, and is gearing up for a second round of input from the public. According to the survey, Wilson Park is the residents' favorite and most visited park.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Daniel Gibson, 8, laughs Friday while swinging on the swings with his mother, Amanda Griffith of Fayetteville at Wilson Park in Fayetteville. The Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department has finished the first round of surveys for its Imagine Tomorrow´s Parks campaign, and is gearing up for a second round of input from the public. According to the survey, Wilson Park is the residents' favorite and most visited park.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Community or regional parks? Elaborate amenities or bocce ball? Preserve more land or upgrade what the city already owns? Why not a little bit of everything?

The first round of public input for the city's outreach campaign, Imagine Tomorrow's Parks, posed such questions to residents. The second phase began Friday.

Park profiles

The city’s parks are categorized as follows:

• Neighborhood parks — Small parks, usually up to about 6 acres, with a playground, pavilion and a couple picnic tables. Examples: David Lashley Park, Bayyari Park, Clarence Craft Park.

• Community parks — What most people think of as a traditional park in the city. They have amenities such as basketball courts, fields, restrooms and water fountains, in addition to playgrounds, pavilions and seating. Examples: Bryce Davis Park, Wilson Park, Gulley Park.

• Regional parks — Sprawling tourist attractions full of natural habitats, outdoor recreational activity and open space. About 80 percent of all Fayetteville park land is a regional park. Examples: Lake Fayetteville Park, Kessler Mountain Regional Park, Lake Sequoyah Park.

Source: Staff report

Provide feedback

Learn more and submit comments about the city’s parks at:

fayetteville-ar.gov…

Parks officials want to update a 17-year-old master plan. The feedback will help officials prioritize projects over the next decade, said Connie Edmonston, parks director. The plan will guide decisions on everything from splash pads to geocaching locations.

"We're very interested in what kinds of parks people want," she said. "We just don't want to guess, or say 'this is what I like.' There are so many opinions out there, and we want to get it right."

The city has 37 parks and manages 3,938 acres, according to its website. The parks fund this year calls for $3.2 million in expenses, including $1.8 million in personnel, $789,000 in capital projects and $22,000 in maintenance, according to the budget. Revenue, mostly from half of the city's 2 percent hotel, motel and restaurant sales tax, is estimated at $3.5 million.

The results

The Parks Department has $200,000 set aside in the capital improvements budget to develop the plan, using $50,000 this year and $150,000 next year. A dozen public input sessions were held in April and May throughout the city, with 428 paper surveys filled out and 655 responses online.

The answers provided a picture of how residents spend their time at parks and where their interests lie. For example, the favorite and most often visited park was Wilson Park, which lies in an historic neighborhood between Maple and North streets.

Respondents listed open green space for picnicking and gatherings and off-leash dog parks among their favorite recreational amenities.

The most popular sport played at the city's parks, by far, is soccer. Basketball and baseball or T-ball come next.

The parks system as a whole is well-maintained with a slight desire to improve the overall quality, according to the findings. Residents want parks distributed equally around the city.

Residents are split on how the Parks Department should focus its efforts. About 32 percent wanted more time and money spent on community parks. Twenty-six percent opted for small neighborhood parks. Twenty-three percent said the city should acquire more land for recreation or preservation. The remaining 19 percent wanted the emphasis to be on regional, tourist-attracting parks.

The second round of surveys will help parks officials decipher specifics, said Ted Jack, park planner. For example, land acquisition came up higher than expected. The next survey will ask what residents want done with new park land -- preserve it as open space, turn it into a community park, put in an aquatics center, etc.

One reason that idea might've resonated is because of a resident-led campaign to save Lewis Park, next to Asbell Elementary. The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture owns the 27-acre tract and leases it to the city. The lease expires at the end of this month.

There's only so much money to go around, and a whole lot of wants from the community, Jack said.

"You can't just do faux planning, short and sweet," he said. "You've really got to be able to dive into this stuff and try to understand what the community really wants."

Other cities

Springdale was just granted $21.3 million for parks and trails after voters approved a bond issue in February. Constructing the 120-acre Shaw Family Park on the northwest part of town is the priority after not being able to take on the project during the city's previous bond issue in 2012, said Bill Mock, parks director. Sprucing up the decades-old Tyson Recreational Complex is also on the list, he said.

Many of the city's park projects carry over from prior years, Mock said.

"We've got a pecking order, so to speak," he said.

Springdale generally holds public input sessions at City Hall so residents can submit feedback and ask questions, said Ashley Earhart with the mayor's office.

Rogers has a bond referendum coming up Aug. 14. For parks, the city hopes to build out Mount Hebron Park, a 70-plus-acre property the city bought in 2011 for just more than $1 million on the west side of town. Plans also are in the works to redesign downtown's Frisco Park through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.

The city has held public input sessions and posted surveys online for both projects, spokesman Ben Cline said. The outreach campaign for Mount Hebron Park launched last spring and drove the initial concept, he said.

"As we expand, improve and increase our parks in Rogers, public input has become a priority," Cline said. "Making sure we are responding to the changing needs of the community is vital to creating a healthy parks system."

David Wright, Bentonville's parks director, said the city takes a similar approach to Fayetteville when it comes to public outreach. Wright worked 10 years for the Fayetteville Parks Department.

The city most recently went through a couple of rounds of public input to come up with a plan for the Melvin Ford Aquatic Center. The 25-year-old swimming pool is in need of a face-lift, Wright said.

The project stemmed from the city's updated parks master plan, which the Bentonville City Council approved in August 2017.

"We try to do public input on just about every project that we have," Wright said.

What's ahead

Questions on the next round of surveys also will touch on specific parts of Fayetteville. For instance, park planners would like to know what else should go at Millsaps Mountain other than mountain biking facilities. The city recently acquired the land through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.

Another possibility is the Old Post Office on the square is up for sale. Parks officials want to gauge resident interest on the property.

Residents who didn't take the first survey can take the second. Another round of public input sessions will follow.

The city is also gearing up for a bond renewal vote next year, which will help pay for a number of capital improvements, including parks. Information from the surveys will be used to come up with a list of projects, Edmonston said.

"The bond will be for the next three years or so," she said. "That's kind of short-term. Ten years is as long term as we want to stick our neck out -- people are always changing in recreation. We've got to change with them."

A finalized parks master plan update should be ready by fall 2019.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Walker Forrester, 11, of Watts, Okla., pitches Saturday while taking part in a monthly horseshoe tournament hosted by the Northwest Arkansas Horseshoe Pitchers Association at Walker Park in Fayetteville. Forrester is the reigning Cadets World Champion after winning at the World Horseshoe Tournament in St. George, Utah. The Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department has finished the first round of surveys for its Imagine Tomorrow’s Parks campaign, and is gearing up for a second round of input from the public.

NW News on 06/24/2018

Upcoming Events