Survey Says Parks Meet Patrons' Expectations
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Pat Brown, president of Sitescapes Inc., Mishawaka, consultant to the department on putting the master plan together, said 180 people responded to the survey online and 190 written responses were returned.
Out of the 370 responses, 47 respondents live within the city and 48 percent live outside the city with 5 percent giving no response. The households were 41 percent adults only, and 54 percent had children, with 5 percent giving no response.
When asked if the Parks Department met their expectations, 92 percent said yes.
Another question asked on the survey was if they supported the use of public funds for trails and greenways, and 87 percent said yes. Asked how they used the trail, 53 percent said leisure recreation and 48 percent said fitness and wellness.
Activities people would like to see added to the parks included a four-way tie at 81 percent for a water splash pad, canoe rentals, kayak rentals and paddle board rentals. The least, still at over half at 58 percent, was outdoor recreation activities.
As for improvements people want to see in the parks, the top were swimming beach at 84 percent and picnic shelters at 76 percent. The least was horseshoes at 45 percent, skate park at 48 percent and disc golf at 50 percent.
“This is somewhat typical with other communities, especially horseshoes are kind of fading out. Younger generation of families just aren’t into it and they don’t buy horseshoes anymore,” Brown said.
The programs and activities of importance to families are concerts at 74 percent, walking/biking at 69 percent and special events at 68 percent. The least important activities for families are BMX bikes at 11 percent, skate park at 13 percent and disc golf at 16 percent.
Asked if they were willing to pay for improvements, 47 percent of respondents said it depends on the investment. Another 26 percent said yes to increased reservation and rental fees and 17 percent said yes to increased program fees. Only 12 percent said “no, can’t afford any increase.”
On maintenance practices, 90 percent liked the department’s mowing and 82 percent liked how well the department handled trash. Respondents were least happy with restrooms and grills and tables. Brown said people will never be happy with restrooms anyway.
As for safety in the park, 28 percent of respondents said they feel very safe, 48 percent safe and 18 percent fairly safe. Brown said a few reported not feeling safe and the respondents attributed that to teenagers hanging out in the parks.
Respondents rated park administration as good from 71 to 75 percent in categories, and poor from 2 to 5 percent in categories. Park maintenance had a good rating from 69 to 74 percent in categories, and poor from 2 to 4 percent in categories.
Brown then facilitated an open forum discussion to get more feedback from the people at Tuesday’s meeting. He asked what opportunities would you like to see offered, developed or expanded? What observations and suggestions do you have that might improve Warsaw Parks? Are additional park sites needed in Warsaw, and if so, where? Are additional trails and connections needed, and if so, where?
Diane Quance, city council representative to the Park Board, said a park site was needed north of U.S. 30 and west of Ind. 15. Board President Steve Haines agreed, saying there was a lot of new housing out there. A woman in the audience said the same areas needed trails. It was suggested a pedestrian and bicycle bridge was needed over U.S. 30.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said it was important to have a connection between the north and south.
“There’s discussion starting up now about U.S. 30 and potential grade separations through the community, potentially going around the community, similar to what was done to U.S. 31. If there were grade separations there, it would provide an opportunity to get across or under (the road),” Thallemer said.
He said having that in the Parks’ plan would give validity to “what we’re trying to do on U.S. 30.”
Superintendent Larry Plummer said there wasn’t a lot on the west side of town, though Haines said the skate park and a basketball court were out there.
Quance said there needed to be a connection between Anchorage Road and Sunset Drive as that area is unsafe for people to walk.
Another question Brown asked was about replacing Center Lake Pavilion with a new multi-use facility. A woman said it needs to be bigger with a better public address system and more restrooms. Parks Board member Michelle Boxell said it needs a catering-quality kitchen, while one man said a new pavilion could be used for increased activities and programs. Haines said the more multi-purpose they could make it, the better. A man said where it sits in the park, it is underused just as rental space.
There was then discussion on having an ice rink at Central Park, with Brown saying you didn’t want to squeeze too much into the park. He also suggested Kelly Park, south of Warsaw, could be used as a complementary park to Central Park.
Brown said the Parks has until Jan. 15 to get its draft of its five-year master plan to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, with its final draft due April 15.
At the conclusion of the discussion, Thallemer said, “I want to thank the board, and Larry, and all of you for this process. I came five years ago when this was being done and having been involved now pretty heavily, the quality of the work has been so good, and I’m really excited for the update. Just sitting here tonight and watching how this is going on, I’m very thankful that the board has taken initiative to continue this, and I’m sure the results will give us a pretty good direction for the next five years, so thank you.”[[In-content Ad]]
Pat Brown, president of Sitescapes Inc., Mishawaka, consultant to the department on putting the master plan together, said 180 people responded to the survey online and 190 written responses were returned.
Out of the 370 responses, 47 respondents live within the city and 48 percent live outside the city with 5 percent giving no response. The households were 41 percent adults only, and 54 percent had children, with 5 percent giving no response.
When asked if the Parks Department met their expectations, 92 percent said yes.
Another question asked on the survey was if they supported the use of public funds for trails and greenways, and 87 percent said yes. Asked how they used the trail, 53 percent said leisure recreation and 48 percent said fitness and wellness.
Activities people would like to see added to the parks included a four-way tie at 81 percent for a water splash pad, canoe rentals, kayak rentals and paddle board rentals. The least, still at over half at 58 percent, was outdoor recreation activities.
As for improvements people want to see in the parks, the top were swimming beach at 84 percent and picnic shelters at 76 percent. The least was horseshoes at 45 percent, skate park at 48 percent and disc golf at 50 percent.
“This is somewhat typical with other communities, especially horseshoes are kind of fading out. Younger generation of families just aren’t into it and they don’t buy horseshoes anymore,” Brown said.
The programs and activities of importance to families are concerts at 74 percent, walking/biking at 69 percent and special events at 68 percent. The least important activities for families are BMX bikes at 11 percent, skate park at 13 percent and disc golf at 16 percent.
Asked if they were willing to pay for improvements, 47 percent of respondents said it depends on the investment. Another 26 percent said yes to increased reservation and rental fees and 17 percent said yes to increased program fees. Only 12 percent said “no, can’t afford any increase.”
On maintenance practices, 90 percent liked the department’s mowing and 82 percent liked how well the department handled trash. Respondents were least happy with restrooms and grills and tables. Brown said people will never be happy with restrooms anyway.
As for safety in the park, 28 percent of respondents said they feel very safe, 48 percent safe and 18 percent fairly safe. Brown said a few reported not feeling safe and the respondents attributed that to teenagers hanging out in the parks.
Respondents rated park administration as good from 71 to 75 percent in categories, and poor from 2 to 5 percent in categories. Park maintenance had a good rating from 69 to 74 percent in categories, and poor from 2 to 4 percent in categories.
Brown then facilitated an open forum discussion to get more feedback from the people at Tuesday’s meeting. He asked what opportunities would you like to see offered, developed or expanded? What observations and suggestions do you have that might improve Warsaw Parks? Are additional park sites needed in Warsaw, and if so, where? Are additional trails and connections needed, and if so, where?
Diane Quance, city council representative to the Park Board, said a park site was needed north of U.S. 30 and west of Ind. 15. Board President Steve Haines agreed, saying there was a lot of new housing out there. A woman in the audience said the same areas needed trails. It was suggested a pedestrian and bicycle bridge was needed over U.S. 30.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said it was important to have a connection between the north and south.
“There’s discussion starting up now about U.S. 30 and potential grade separations through the community, potentially going around the community, similar to what was done to U.S. 31. If there were grade separations there, it would provide an opportunity to get across or under (the road),” Thallemer said.
He said having that in the Parks’ plan would give validity to “what we’re trying to do on U.S. 30.”
Superintendent Larry Plummer said there wasn’t a lot on the west side of town, though Haines said the skate park and a basketball court were out there.
Quance said there needed to be a connection between Anchorage Road and Sunset Drive as that area is unsafe for people to walk.
Another question Brown asked was about replacing Center Lake Pavilion with a new multi-use facility. A woman said it needs to be bigger with a better public address system and more restrooms. Parks Board member Michelle Boxell said it needs a catering-quality kitchen, while one man said a new pavilion could be used for increased activities and programs. Haines said the more multi-purpose they could make it, the better. A man said where it sits in the park, it is underused just as rental space.
There was then discussion on having an ice rink at Central Park, with Brown saying you didn’t want to squeeze too much into the park. He also suggested Kelly Park, south of Warsaw, could be used as a complementary park to Central Park.
Brown said the Parks has until Jan. 15 to get its draft of its five-year master plan to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, with its final draft due April 15.
At the conclusion of the discussion, Thallemer said, “I want to thank the board, and Larry, and all of you for this process. I came five years ago when this was being done and having been involved now pretty heavily, the quality of the work has been so good, and I’m really excited for the update. Just sitting here tonight and watching how this is going on, I’m very thankful that the board has taken initiative to continue this, and I’m sure the results will give us a pretty good direction for the next five years, so thank you.”[[In-content Ad]]
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