MOUNT VERNON – Consultants for Mount Vernon are taking comments and suggestions from residents to create a parks master plan starting with Memorial Park, Riverside Park and the new CA&C Depot Park.
The master plan will envision a framework for the big picture and long-term goals for the parks. It also will serve as a guide for intermediate and short-term decisions so the city’s annual budget can cover some smaller projects that fit with the vision, Matthew Teismann of MKC Architects told the Mount Vernon News.
“The public seems to care about their park systems, but also have some concerns and see some opportunities to improve them,” he said.
The public gave MKC a lot of feedback during three planning sessions at City Hall on July 14, ranging from a particular swing set or restroom that might be needed in a park to thinking what the park system as a whole should be and how it could be improved, Teismann said.
Intergenerational play was a big discussion point for Mount Vernon residents.
“How can one parent with kids have two different age groups and be able to supervise them? But not only that, even unsupervised play for teenagers, giving them activities and options beyond just organized sports will potentially help them grow and continue to contribute to their growth,” Teismann said.
The parks have the standard amenities like playgrounds, ballfields and restrooms, MKC's Jaime Donaldson told the News.
“But they need more of it and also just a little bit more updating of them. A lot of the playgrounds have had their years of love,” she said.
As MKC continues to study the parks, he said the city needs to develop the identities of each park.
“While Memorial Park seems to have a strong focus on sports and in particular organized sports, parks like Riverside might have more individual or smaller group activities that could be reinforced with less of an emphasis on sports. Moreover, the CA&C Depot Park is not really suitable for sporting activities,” Teismann said.
The Depot Park could be used for events and community get-togethers, serving as a hub for the city and Knox County at large, he said. It could also help to connect to downtown Mount Vernon and the Public Square and the businesses there.
MKC began its work by performing inventory and analysis, which was presented at the public meetings. After holding stakeholder meetings, preliminary design ideas will go into a draft of the master plan that gets presented to the city for feedback. The final master plan will be presented to the City Council by Nov. 1.
