Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Park Improvement Ideas Abound
FARMINGTON — The list of ideas to improve Creekside Park is long and diverse and the problem will be whittling down the suggestions to a manageable number.
About 16 people showed up last week for a public workshop to give input on a new master plan for Creekside Park and they had lots of recommendations.
Tracy Quade who lives near the park off Sable Street said the project is exciting.
“I’m glad it will be kept as a low impact area,” Quade said.
Laurie Adkins played as a child in the creek that flows through the middle of the park.
“It’s preserving my childhood,” said Adkins. “It was my running area.”
The city of Farmington has hired Alta Planning and Design of Bentonville to help develop a new master plan for the 61-acre city park. A steering committee will work with Erin Rushing, project manager, and input from this committee as well as ideas mentioned at the public workshop will be used in coming up with an initial master plan for the community to consider.
The city will sponsor a second public workshop in August on the draft master plan and ask citizens to come out and give their ideas and input about the draft plan.
Quade, Adkins and another neighbor, Devis Fruchtl, have a vested interest in the park. The women use it for walking and running and also see the continued use of it by families and others in the community.
Their suggestions include more parking and two smaller playgrounds in other parts of the park to reach children in nearby neighborhoods.
“We need another place for kids to play and be safe,” said Quade, adding she sees children playing in the street near the park.
The key, said Adkins, is to
provide more access to the park.
Denver Holt, a steering committee member, teaches physical education at Folsom Elementary in Farmington. He and his wife take their 3-year-old to the park but he also would like to see more things available at the park for adults.
“You don’t have to convince a kid to go to the park,” Holt said. “To give adults something to do is very important.”
One of his suggestions is to install adult fitness stations along the walking trail. His wife is a fitness instructor and she would be able to use stations for her clients, he added.
Rushing placed maps of the park on tables and asked people to write their ideas down on the maps.
Wr i t ten comments included a disc golf course, soccer practice field, a community art wall, dog park, kiddie train, tennis courts, longer and wider walking trails, a farmers’ market and a small amphitheater or music venue.
The park, which grew by 32 acres last year, is partially divided by Broyles Street. Rushing said one possibility to connect the two areas would be a walking trail that goes through a box culvert running underneath Broyles Street.
The city already knows that it wants to use about four acres of the land located next to Broyles Street for a new public works facility.
Judy Horne, a member of Farmington Planning Commission, said she wants the park to be “what the citizens want it to be,” but personally admits she would prefer the new public works facility be located elsewhere, not within park boundaries. She’s worried about the view from park visitors and neighbors living behind the facility.
Melissa McCarville, city business manager, and Floyd Shelley, public works director, assured her the city would use landscaping and other natural barriers to make the new facility blend in with a park environment.
“We’ll be great neighbors,” McCarville told Horne at the public workshop.
Rushing said the next step is to compile all comments and come up with design plans.
“We’re mapping out what this park would look like,” said Rushing. “We’ll take all these ideas and start putting them to scale. Some will make the cut and some may not make the cut.”
One person asked about funding to implement a new master plan and Rushing said pieces of it may have to be accomplished over time. It could take 20 years to fully implement the plan, Rushing said, but noted the city can apply for grants to help with costs.