TASK FORCE on new uses for golf courses finds ideas plentiful as first meeting held.

All options still on table, group told

There is no shortage of ideas for repurposing the former golf courses at War Memorial and Hindman parks in Little Rock, judging from thousands of survey responses to a task force that wants to create recreation opportunities that appeal to everyone.

Golf operations at the two city parks ceased earlier this summer as part of roughly $2.1 million in cuts that were made to the city’s 2019 budget. Mayor Frank Scott Jr. has said the closures are an opportunity to revitalize, re-imagine and reinvest in the spaces and dubbed the new 20-member task force #R3LRParks.

City Manager Bruce Moore told the task force at its first meeting Wednesday that no options are off the table, despite the need to identify funding mechanisms.

“We have a limited city budget right now, but what are the other options going forward?” Moore said. “The mayor, what he’s said to me is he wants everything on the table, there’s no limit, us talking about everything that potentially could happen.”

An online survey that allowed residents to sound off on what they’d like to see in the combined 230 acres of public space the parks offer will serve as a jumping-off point for the task force.

The city received more than 11,000 responses to the survey from nearly 1,780 individuals, who could vote for as many of the 10 options offered as they wanted, or fill in a box for “other.”

The top suggestions were for walking and biking trails, with 1,024 people saying they wanted walking trails at War Memorial Park and 806 saying the same for Hindman Park. For each park, about 700 people said they wanted biking trails.

Requests for dog parks and soccer fields also ranked high.

People who chose “other” had ideas that ranged from a new skate park, an expanded zoo, a pond for paddle boats, space for food trucks, a children’s playground, a community garden, a music venue and an aquatic park.

Not every resident who answered the survey was eager to contribute new ideas. Some used the option to suggest that the golf courses remain unchanged, including one respondent who listed “keepthedamngolfcourses@gmail.com” as an email address.

Former Mayor Mark Stodola suggested a cross country track at Hindman Park and picnic tables, outdoor grills and a music shell for War Memorial Park.

At Wednesday’s meeting, some task force members expressed their desire for more public input.

Jodie Carter, a member of the Hindman Men’s Golf Association, said he wanted to make sure information was provided to neighborhood associations.

Parks and Recreation Director John Eckart said the city planned to open a portal for additional public input.

Task force member Suzanne Grobmyer said the group should keep short-term goals in mind along with long-range vision.

“Everyone’s going to have a million great ideas, but I think you have to sort of pinch it off into sections that are manageable and attainable and meaningful,” she said. “People are going to be looking to these parks as dead spaces if there’s not something done.”

The group plans to have a brainstorming session at its next meeting and get a presentation from the Parks and Recreation Department about the city’s current offerings.

Several members said they wanted whatever ideas were implemented to be accessible for multiple generations.

“People will fund something that says, ‘It’s good for my kids and my grandkids,’ ” Dr. Riley Lipschitz said.

Some said they hoped to adapt ideas from other cities, including Dr. Johnathan Goree, a Little Rock native who returned after living in St. Louis and New York City, and Pamela Bingham, who has visited parks in other cities with Little Rock’s potential in mind.

Several residents at the meeting spoke in favor of using the spaces for a food forest, which features “edible landscaping” such as fruit trees and herbs. A Facebook page for the Little Rock Food Forest Initiative garnered more than 500 likes in under a week.

The task force plans to meet every other week through December before presenting its findings to Scott and the city’s Board of Directors.

The next meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Centre at University Park, 6401 W. 12th St.