City Pushing For Parks Plan
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe City of Evansville is taking the initial steps in creating a new master plan for the city's parks system. Officials hope to have a final plan approved by the city council in December and presented to the Department of Natural Resources in January. August 4, 2014
News Release
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The City of Evansville is in the beginning stages of developing a new Master Plan for the Department of Parks and Recreation that will provide a roadmap for future development of the city’s public parks system. The document would also make the city eligible to apply for state and federal funding, which is currently not possible because the city's previous park master plan never received formal approval in 2009.
“The new Master Plan will compare Evansville to cities of similar size with similar facilities by looking at organizational structure, budgeting, staffing, programming and building facilities,” said Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. “This comprehensive review of our parks is important, especially when previous plans have all recommended enhanced green space at the former Roberts Stadium site, and the city is ready to make those plans a reality.”
Denise Johnson, Executive Director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, said the Master Plan will be developed by the consulting team Alta + Design. Alta will gather public input from residents through an online survey and will hold public meetings in the near future. Alta Consultants will also participate in National Night Out at Wesselman Park on August 5 from 6 to 9 p.m., and the Mayor's Traveling City Hall meeting at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 2301 N. Stockwell Rd., on September 24 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The goal is to complete the proposed new Master Plan and present it to City Council by mid-December for approval. Once the document is approved and signed by Mayor Winnecke it will be presented to the Department of Natural Resources in January 2015 for approval.
Citizens are encouraged to provide input on the existing and future parks system by completing an on-line survey at: http://evansvilleparksandrec.weebly.com/. A link to the survey is also available on the City of Evansville website at: www.evansville.in.gov. Click on Government and select Parks and Recreation, then click Evansville Parks and Rec Master Plan.
Source: The City of Evansville