Parks board discusses community response to improvement projects

In its second recent meeting to discuss potential changes to West Homewood and Patriot parks, the parks and recreation department discussed community responses they have received to a recent survey, on a wide variety of concerns related to the projects.

Parks Board Chairman Chris Meeks said 238 people took the survey. According to self-identification questions in the survey, 66 percent of respondents were between 35 and 49 years old, 17 percent were between 50 and 64 years old and 16 percent were 25 to 34 years old. Sixty-six percent of respondents were female and 34 percent were male.

Just over half the survey respondents were from West Homewood, a quarter from Edgewood and 17 percent from Hollywood, with the remainder from several other neighborhoods, with only 5 percent not Homewood residents at all. Most had one or multiple children and most surprisingly, Meeks said, 85 percent of them hadn't been at the first meeting held at the senior center.

At West Homewood Park, the parks and recreation department wants to realign its existing athletic fields to make room for more baseball, softball and multi-use fields, as well as a gymnasium, more parking and a maintenance facility that would also have indoor fields, batting cages and wrestling mats. Survey respondents' concerns included the addition of a walking trail, playgrounds, tennis courts, increase in traffic, ADA accessibility and even the possibility of a dog park. The results showed divided opinions on whether the plans had enough parking and too few or too many baseball fields.

Geoff Clever of Davis Architects said they have begun drawing a proposed walking path that would wind through the athletic complex and use both soft and hard surfaces depending on the terrain. They're also looking at options to connect West Homewood and Patriot parks with a walking path, though the final route has not been laid out.

“We are looking at it, and we all think it’s a great idea,” Clever said.

Other changes in response to the survey and meeting feedback include relocating the gymnasium planned for the southeast corner of the property to allow room for two more tennis courts, making eight total at that location. They also presented drawings that reduced the amount of parking on the east side of the park, which backs up to homes, and would install tree buffers for noise and sight issues. A playground is also proposed near the children's ballfields on the east side of the property.

Meeks said the parks board has also met with the Board of Education about having partial access to parking lots for Waldrop Stadium as well.

At Patriot Park, plans include construction of a new pool and aquatic features, as well as additional parking, in the green space between the senior center and the part of the park bounded by a walking trail. Survey concerns included split opinions on whether the pool should be covered, traffic concerns, longer operating hours and what amenities would be featured. Meeks said survey respondents favored beach-style entry into the pool, lap lanes and social seating areas, but felt strongly that the pool should be understated and not an eyesore.

“We do not want to overdo this pool. A lot of folks do not want an amusement park feel,” Meeks said.

Residents who attended tonight's meeting mainly expressed concerns about walkability, effect on nearby homes and preservation of existing trees and wildlife habitats.

“What can you do to help us, the people that live back there, to protect us so we can be excited about this too?” one Parkside area homeowner said.

The idea of a walking trail around West Homewood Park and connecting to Patriot Park drew positive responses from the crowd. Parks and Recreation Superintendent Berkley Squires said new tree buffers and LED lighting, which is more focused than the current lighting and has less "spillover," will improve quality of life for residents in West Homewood while the fields are in use.

Squires added that no trees will be taken down unless they're directly involved in the proposed changes, so some existing treelines would remain. However, several homeowners present spoke out against removing trees, particularly a heavily wooded area in the Mason property area that has recently been added to the park, and the potential effect on wildlife living there.

“Let’s be as sensitive as possible. If we can save anything at all for wildlife, let’s do it,” another resident said.

Meeks said both during and after the meeting that he'd like to look at ways to reconfigure plans so that the proposed multi-use fields and maintenance facility on the Mason property would not cause the destruction of this wooded area.

“We’ll work any way possible to try to prevent taking down those trees if we can,” Meeks said. 

Traffic is a more challenging issue, but Squires said one parking lot at West Homewood will have access from West Oxmoor Road in addition to the Snow Drive entrance to the rest of the park.

The parks and recreation department will have survey results available online later this week. Another meeting has been scheduled for June 6 at the Homewood Senior Center at 6 p.m., and Meeks said he intends to bring a design plan for the Patriot Park pool and reconfiguration of the West Homewood plan to leave more trees.