GAINESVILLE – The next decade will be a busy one for the Gainesville Parks and Recreation Department.
That according to Kate Mattison, Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, as she presented “The Gainesville 2030 Parks, Greenways and Open Spaces Master Plan” at the city council work session Thursday morning.
Mattison said it took about a year to assemble the plan and it was done with the assistance of Norcross-based consultant “The Foresight Group”.
“They found that 78-percent of our facilities are in good to excellent condition,” Mattison told council members. She said that number would go lower if the current policy of deferring maintenance projects until absolutely necessary remains the practice.
She said with population projections for Gainesville in 2030 increasing by a third, fiscal adjustments and present day land acquisition strategy need to adjust. “That’s quite the jump in the next ten years, and it will mean that we need to program specifically to young children, 0-4, people in the 20-30 category, and then, obviously our active older adults.”
Mattison said a six-week-long community survey done by Foresight revealed a list of priorities for future park development as indicated by survey respondents. “The top five project priorities are: greenways, restrooms, a fitness trail at Frances Meadows, playground additions and improvements, and a dog park.”
“I think we’re in a good spot, honestly,” Mattison commented, saying that plans already in place, such as the 89-acre Melvin Cooper Youth Sports Complex being developed on the city’s east side, will provide much of the growth needed.
“We have got a lot of really cool things coming up with the Youth Sports Complex, with the Civic Center renovations, with some Green Street Park improvements that we want to do; so I think we’re in a good spot,” she said.
In addition, Mattison said the fees charged for using existing facilities in Gainesville are allowing Gainesville Parks and Recreation to be more self-supporting that many similar entities nationwide. “The national average is 25-percent and we have been hovering around 40-percent for many, many years.”
Mattison said the one area of the city that is under-served, meaning travel time to a neighborhood park facility is the highest, is along the southern boundary of the city. “Hall County picks up some of that if you look at their park map, but we don’t physically have enough. So that is something we’ll be looking at…but we’ve don’t want to be repetitive with services.”
Mattison said areas where focus needs to be highest in the coming years are: land acquisition for future park sites; replacing and increasing the number of park restrooms; using the lake frontage controlled by the city for enhanced “blueway” opportunities; a city recreation center giving the city public gym space; and an outdoor pool at Frances Meadows.
To view Mattison’s presentation to the Gainesville City Council, click here, and then select "MP Presentation" near the bottom of the page.
