Warren discusses park plan
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WARREN -- Potential plans for Quinby Park were unveiled to City Council's parks and recreation committee Wednesday. Also, a couple of members brought concerns about the plan for Perkins Park, which had previously been discussed.
Andrew Bednar of Baker, Bednar and Snyder & Associates, outlined a $305,000 plan for Quinby Park on Austin Avenue SW. The plan includes a new restroom building, repairs to the basketball court and hoops, various improvements to the shelter house and a new gazebo or pavilion.
The shelter house improvements would include new interior and exterior outlets, new front and back doors, a replacement of the air conditioning unit, an epoxy concrete floor, new concrete picnic tables and benches, and to enclose restroom toilets with stalls.
"This is as directed by the people who live in that general area. This is a tremendous amount of improvements at Quinby Park to bring it up to par with the other parks," Bednar said.
He said his company was hired to do a parks study, which included speaking to community residents and stakeholders about what they want to see in their parks. From there, rough designs were created, which then can be fine-tuned by the company that is actually hired to design the projects. City council still has to put out a request for qualifications for that design service.
The entire parks renovation project is estimated to cost $6.5 million between the city's four biggest parks. The city is planning to use American Rescue Plan money, which needs to be allocated by the end of 2024.
Previously, the plans that Baker, Bednar and Snyder & Associates created for Perkins, Packard and Burbank parks were presented to council. These three larger parks could see renovations of their dugouts, bleachers, concession stands, new LED lighting, landscaping and additional security cameras.
At the meeting, a couple members of council brought up issues they had with the proposed additional parking at Perkins Park. The proposal adds a parking lot in the park that would add about 200 spaces. It would extend Perkins Drive NW through the park to the southwest side of the park, meeting with the one-way road around the park.
Councilman Andrew Herman, D-2nd Ward, said he has spoken with ward residents who do not like the idea of a parking lot splitting the park. Perkins Park is in the 2nd Ward. He said the park has been there a long time and the original intent was not to split it with a parking lot.
"I don't think it's enforceable. I want to see a feasibility study on this. How are we going to enforce this? People are going to park where they want to park," Herman said. "Unless you're going to give them a ticket, they're going to want to pull up next to where their kid is playing ball, like they have been doing for 100 years down there. People want to get their chairs out of their cars and set them up right there. Some people like to watch in their cars."
Herman also said people don't like to walk far, so they won't want to walk all the way across the park just to see their kid play.
Bednar said part of the reason for the additional parking lot is to reduce traffic in some areas of the park, which he said will make it safer for children.
Herman suggested placing speed bumps around the exiting road that loops the park, which he said is cheaper and will have the same effect.
Other council members liked the idea of the speed bumps, but also said they like the idea of a new parking lot.
"I've coached down there the last eight years," Service Director Eddie Colbert said. "When I have my kids over at the bathroom and they run off, I've heard the breaks screech. It's a feeling you don't want to feel as a parent."
Councilman Todd Johnson, D-1st Ward, said he thinks the parking situation at the park has been so bad because people have no other option. He said this new parking lot would give them another option.
Councilman Ken MacPherson, D, at-Large, said the parking lot will not solve all the parking problems because it will not be able to hold all of the people that the park sees on opening day. Colbert said there is no parking now, so the proposed plan is better than nothing. He acknowledged that on the busiest days, people still will have to park elsewhere.
"In architecture school, one of the things we learned was that you should not design a church for Christmas and Easter. So, we shouldn't design for opening day," Bednar said. "We should design for average, or typical days."