Master plan adopted for Macon rec park

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Master plan adopted for Macon rec park

Here’s a look at the master plan for the recreation center and park. Donated photo

Macon County Commissioners have adopted a master plan for the county’s recreation center and surrounding park.

At the center of that plan is the growing sport of pickleball and space for community events, both of which arose from public input.

“We want to put new life into the Macon County rec park,” said Commissioner John Shearl. “I grew up in that park and the idea behind that park is to bring families back together and give them a place to picnic, kayak, play in the river, fish, whatever. That’s the ultimate goal, in my mind, is to give the families a safe place to go.”

The county contracted with McGill and Associates for the master planning process.

“We’ve been working with your public to figure out how best to develop a site master plan for the county park,” said Jim Ford, project planner for McGill. “It’s actually been a really fruitful process.”

Ford worked with the public, developed a master plan and then created graphics for the county park that were then displayed during a set of public meetings in August.

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“We’ve gotten public comments all throughout this process,” said Ford. “I wanted to remind everybody how important it is to have a plan moving forward with any sort of great development.”

While commissioners did accept the master plan, this does not obligate the board to carry out any aspects of the park included in the plan. Having a working master plan will help the county if it applies for grants like the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant that could supply a substantial portion of funding needed to build out the park.

“This plan does say that you acknowledge the public voice, that we captured that voice through public engagement activities, did due diligence on the property, developed concepts, worked with a recreation advisory board and came up with a concept moving forward that therefore makes you eligible for grant funding in the future,” Ford said. “Without an adopted plan, it’ll be unlikely to get grant funding.”

The park is located in a flood zone, which impacts how the current layout came about and where structures can be built in the future. No walled buildings can be constructed in the floodway.

As part of the planning process McGill conducted a public survey that garnered 347 responses representing 642 individuals.

“We had to ask the public, what do you think of the park now, and what do you visualize the future park consisting of? Since 2020, COVID reminded us all how important it is to be allowed to get outdoors,” said Ford. “People also now crave things like events, concerts, plays, getting together as a family, having those reunions. People are craving this, they have for a few years now.”

Part of the survey asked the public to identify barriers to recreation and the number one response was that the activities people wanted are not offered. The second most popular response was that people don’t have enough time to access the recreation park.

“Everybody’s heard about needing to have access to education; well, parks are just as important to a good quality of life,” said Ford.

People were also asked to rate the amenities they would like to see at a future recreation park, the most popular response being an indoor swimming pool. This would allow access to the pool year-round, where now the outdoor pool can only be accessed during summer. The second most requested amenity was walking and jogging trails.

“That’s usually number one on every one of the surveys I do,” said Ford. “I’ve done this for 16 years.”

Ford noted that this indicated how much people really wanted the indoor pool access.

Other things people wanted to see in the future park included an outdoor pool, outdoor playground, natural surface walking trails, accessible or inclusive playground, pickleball, picnic areas, fitness trail and open space.

“Pickleball, oh my goodness, pickleball,” said Ford. “You guys are a pickleball community. It is a demographic thing at the moment, but that is changing. This is one of the fastest, if not the fastest growing activities in the country, so no surprise there.”

The Town of Franklin recently modified basketball courts at Memorial Park to include two new pickleball courts.

The final concept for the Macon County Recreation Park involves two alternative designs with a set of amenities that feature in both designs. Those core elements in both designs include a walking path, splash pad, racquet sports complex, playground improvements, reducing the size of the baseball and softball fields because of the new complex at Parker Meadows and transitioning the large field into an open area and event space by creating a natural amphitheater.

“The main centerpiece is that open amphitheater space,” said Ford.

“I just want to say that a big focus for me personally was, I want to see the Fourth of July back in the park, I want to see that grass area used maybe in summertime for some concerts or some kind of festivals,” said Commissioner Josh Young.

One version of the plan also includes a futsal court, covered pool area and expanded playground. The second alternative includes a fitness par course, shade sail with hammock stands, bocce courts, relocating both the sand volleyball and the playground and creating additional creek access.

“I want to see kids and families utilize the creek,” said Young. “They can float from there to Franklin and we underutilize our natural resources.”

In addition to creating a master plan with a couple design options, the recreation advisory board requested that McGill analyze costs and give estimates.

“My crystal ball is cloudy, and really you can’t do justice to what things cost unless you have construction documents, a survey, and actual plans,” said Ford. “We’re looking at a 30,000-foot conceptual level.”

The master plan assumes a 10-year buildout and is broken down into six phases. The first two phases involve the racquet complex, and the third phase would develop the open space for events at the rec park. After that, the fourth phase would build out the playground area. Next would come the indoor pool, the largest and most expensive piece of the puzzle. And the last phase would connect all the pieces together with necessary parking and walking paths.

The total cost estimate for the entire plan is $14.5 million with the pool and playground making up a majority of those costs.

“Inflation is real, everybody knows it,” said Ford. “Prices will change, even if you did it today. It’s a lot of money, but it’s over a long time and it will have a huge impact on your quality of life. You’ll be meeting the requests of the community as per the community input and if you adopt the plan, you’ll be eligible to start applying for grants and start taking those bites out of this pie in the years to come.”

Commissioners adopted the master plan with unanimous approval and voted to put out a request for proposals for phase one of the plan.

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