Community gives input on park improvements

The community is responding to a call by the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission to share their input on ways to improve city parks and other recreation spaces.

Ideas are pouring in, commissioners said Tuesday adding that residents of all ages have provided feedback on what they would like to see in the city’s nine public parks and walking trail that encircles Lions Club Municipal Golf Course and the Union County Fairgrounds.

City Clerk Heather McVay said the top three responses she has received within the past month are soccer fields, pickleball courts and the need for public restrooms in city parks.

“I’ve actually had several teenagers contact me about this. So it’s not just adults, it’s also teenagers looking for something to do,” McVay said.

The commission is compiling the information and planning a public forum to develop a funding proposal for the El Dorado Works Board, which administers the city’s one-cent economic development sales tax.

Fifteen percent of revenue from the tax is dedicated to community development, 6 percent of which is parks and playgrounds.

Ken Goudy, chairman of the EPPC, noted that pickleball is a growing sport that is drawing more and more interest locally.

Part tennis, part ping-pong, part badminton and part Wiffle ball, pickleball has become one of the top recreational sports in the country since its invention five decades ago.

Audience member Janet Cousins briefly discussed the sport Tuesday during the EPPC’s regular monthly meeting, having previously submitted the suggestion to McVay.

Cousins told commissioners that pickleball may be played indoors or outdoors, and as an avid tennis player, pickleball is her go-to sport during inclement weather.

She explained that pickleball combines elements of several like-sports with a court about the size of a badminton court and a

net similar to a tennis net. In singles or doubles matches, players use ping-pong-like paddles to hit a ball similar to a wiffle ball across the net.

Cousins said the rules for pickleball are patterned after the rules of tennis with some modifications.

“It just seems to be booming everywhere,” Cousins said.

Cousins and Commissioner Alexis Alexander said there have been discussions about adding pickleball courts at the El Dorado Racquet Club. Commissioner Brian Jones said similar discussions are under way at HealthWorks Fitness Center.

Jones and Cousins said pickleball courts and equipment are relatively inexpensive and lines could be painted onto existing tennis courts. There are tennis courts at Mellor Park.

The addition of pickleball facilities could prompt more people to begin playing the sport in El Dorado, Cousins said.

“I think it’s something that could definitely cause the parks to be utilized more,” Jones said.

McVay said citizens have also called for modifications to existing city parks to accommodate soccer play.

One resident noted that soccer players frequently use Neel Park and move to the Mellor Park tennis courts when it rains, adding that benches at Mellor Park are used as soccer goals.

The resident suggested the addition of a mini-soccer court to Mellor Park, pointing to similar facilities in other cities.

The EPPC and the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex board of directors have long discussed the growing demand for soccer fields in El Dorado.

At the behest of Mayor Frank Hash and Union County Judge Mike Loftin, the complex board has included estimated costs for four soccer fields into a master improvement plan for the complex.

Goudy said he has also heard from a citizen about adding specialized playground equipment to city parks for children with disabilities.

Public restrooms are a top priority, he said.

“One of the biggest issues is the pool at Mattocks Park and all the problems with the pool and what to do with that,” Goudy said.

Commissioners and city officials have said have said low attendance at the pool over the summer did not justify the more than $30,000 operating budget, and repairing deteriorating equipment would also be cost-prohibitive.

On Tuesday, commissioners agreed that a public forum should be scheduled immediately following the holiday season.

The commission canceled its December meeting when McVay pointed out that the next regularly scheduled meeting falls on Christmas Day.

For more information or to share ideas about city parks, call McVay at 870-881-4877 or visit the city’s Facebook page.