You can get hands-on with park design input on Dec. 1 at City Hall.
Creswell will be all decked out for Christmas with events ongoing throughout the community during the day on Saturday, but City Council is also giving residents an option to get hands-on with park input at Creswell City Hall.
Parks Open House will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Saturday at City Hall. All ages are invited to help the City design two parks in Creswell, which will be located on Grassland Street and South 2nd Street.
The property at 90 Grassland Street is .98 acres. The City owns the land and in the future, it will be the site of a three million gallon water reservoir, City Manager Michelle Amberg said.
The space on South 2nd Street is still owned by New Hope Baptist Church, as is the graveled lot behind the church and is accessible from South 2nd Street. The City is in the process of dividing the property, and will purchase a little less than an acre for a future neighborhood park, she said. Amberg is fairly certain that piece of property will be in the City’s ownership in 2019.
Both sites are currently vacant fields.
Amberg said she is unaware how long the City has owned the Grasslands property, but said it was always intended to be used as a reservoir site.
”However, the latest master plan put construction of the reservoir out beyond the 20 year horizon,” Amberg said. ”Therefore, we could develop a park on the site, so long as there are no permanent structures within the footprint of the future reservoir area.”
The City has appropriated a little more than $350,000 in Parks System Development Fees (SDCs) for the acquisition and development of the parks system.
About $100,000 will be used to purchase 2nd Street Park and another $80,000 will be used this spring to install an outdoor exercise area at the Cobalt Center, Amberg said.
”The remainder of the funds will most likely be used as match for state grants to install sprinklers, lights, bathrooms, paths, grass and play equipment at 2nd Street Park and whatever the community designs for Grasslands Park,” she said. ”The design is really up to the community and Dec. 1 will be their opportunity to show us what they want by using models and toys to design these parks.”’
Amberg has a bag of overflowing little Plasticville-like toys in her office she’s been collecting for the open house. She has little benches, dogs, skateboards and ramps, frisbee golf accessories – pretty much any kind of parkj equipment you can think of – miniaturized. The idea surfaced at a Park and Tree Advisory Committee meeting, as they brainstormed activities that would entice people to participate.
They hope to pull in people who use the parks in Creswell to give real, honest feedback. ”Without the community’s participation, you will get what a handful of people who work at City Hall THINK should be a great park – and that would not be representative nor desirable,” Amberg said.
The City has received citizen input that has been of a general nature for the Parks Master Plan, but they now need specific design ideas for these two parks.
”This is the time to chime in on the actual design of the parks,” Amberg said. She plans to take photos of the various parks that are designed by the public, and turn the photos over to a landscape architect, or to the Architectural School at the University of Oregon to have composite, to scale rendering made.
”These renderings would be presented to the city council by the Parks and Tree Advisory Board,” Amberg said. ”Once city council has chosen the design, we can begin to write grants and install the parks.”
The timeframe for the implementation of these parks depend on design, property acquisition for the 2nd Street Park, and funding, Amberg said.
For more info, call City Hall at 541-895-2531.
