Here is your chance to download and review the DRAFT version of the Crestwood city-wide Parks Master Plan document. It will be available for review for a 30-day period ending on February 24, 2023.
After you have read through the document, there is a link for you to provide your feedback and input.
You can access the document and the survey HERE.
This is a very large document (over 500 pages including the appendixes and attachments). The main body of the document is over 100 pages. That’s still a lot to read.
The first part of the document focuses on “scientific” stuff like community demographics, survey statistics, assessment of existing programs and features, etc… While this is important, and demonstrates the amount of resident input that was used – it’s probably not the reason that you will read the document. You want to see the proposed improvements to see what new things we might see in our parks. Me too. Below is my recommendation on how to get to the “meat” of the document quickly.
Before we jump in, it’s worth noting that the recommendations in this document are basically the city’s official “wish list” of improvements. The cost is simply too high to implement every recommendation made. The true propose of this document is to be a planning tool for the next 10-15 years. This will be the baseline menu of items from which city leaders will discuss, prioritize, and hopefully fund over the coming decade. That annual debate will start with the 2024 budget.
Okay – let’s dig in.
After you download the document, here’s what I recommend.
Introduction (p1)– This is a great one-pager that provides a good overview of what you are about to read. By the way, it’s LABELED page 1, but since there are title pages, table of contents, etc. it’s the physical page 5. I’ll be referencing the “labeled” page numbers below.
(skim past the info on demographics, program analysis, park assessments. It’s good info to read later)
Parks Overview (p22-23) – make a quick stop on these pages for a nice overview and map showing the locations of Crestwood’s parks… just in case you didn’t remember all of them.
Individual Park Recommendations (p40-69) – Starting with Crestwood Park, you can review the assessment for each park and look at the map listing recommended improvements for that park.
Note about Sappington Park (p56-59) – a master plan for this park was completed in 2018, so that work was simply copied into this new master plan and was not reevaluated. The Sappington House Foundation is working to raise funds to relocate the Joseph Sappington log cabin, and if that occurs it will be placed in the area labeled “O” and “Q” and will replace the need for those buildings.
Community Center (p71-77) – Our existing community center opened in 1977 and has served us well since that time. However, it’s interior spaces are awkward and has limited the types of programs that can be offered. It is also 46 years old and has a bunch of maintenance issues. It’s time for an update.
That brings up a “renovate” or “replace” question. The Master Plan proposes both options and provides budgetary pricing for both. If both options were the same price, the “replace” option would be a no-brainer. It provides better spaces, allowing better programs, and has a better flow. Of course, the cost isn’t the same, but it’s not as different as we thought it would be ($19M vs $22M). There are still many things to figure out on this topic, so stay tuned for more to come.
Action Plan (p110-118) – This section summarizes and prioritizes the various park improvements. Priorities are based upon the extensive public outreach and surveys that took place last year. Again, budgetary pricing has been provided for all of the proposed improvements. As you can see, there’s no way that we’ll be able to afford all of the recommendations, so city leaders will need to continue the annual evaluation of what can we afford to do.
That should give you a pretty good overview of the document, but of course there are many (many) more pages of supporting data if you really want to dig in.
Don’t forget to fill out the survey!