After a long-awaited summer, the construction at Madison Park is finished. However, this is only the beginning. The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) in Lakewood has created a master plan to enhance Madison Park for the upcoming years.Throughout the past couple of years, Madison Park has been losing popularity because it’s simply outdated. Current park amenities are deteriorating due to their age, many of the facilities have reached the end of their usable lives. These issues pose dangers to children and need to be replaced.In order to keep Madison Park as an important gathering hub for the Lakewood community, the DPD conducted a survey and developed its goals based on the community’s input. They plan to create a park that serves current and future generations the DPD plans to accomplish this through various phases of renovation. They plan to first accomplish their short-term goals and work their way up to goals that may be more costly or longer to complete. Some may believe that these renovations will ruin the park. However, these people have nothing to worry about. Michelle Nochta, senior city planner for Lakewood, said, “Our plan isn’t to change the overall layout. We plan to replace a lot of the furnishing and amenities that are reaching the end of their usable life.” These renovations are meant to build a stronger, more connected community and to maintain the safety and usability of the park.
Phase One: Current Endeavors
Phase one of the Madison Park master plan refers to action items that the city is currently working on or has already allocated funds toward. These goals that are being accomplished help build momentum toward other park improvements. Current goals that are presently underway include improvements to the basketball court, electric car charging stations, more trees planted to create shade throughout the park, improved seating, the Birdtown connector, and the Farmers market.The most recent addition to the park would be the Birdtown connector. This addition includes a new path down the park connecting the North lot to the South lot. This also included a pathway that connects the park to Halstead Avenue, which offers a new entrance to the park and connects it with Birdtown and Harrison Elementary School. It provides quick access to the park and makes it more accessible to the community.
Another recent addition, as of this summer, was the Farmers’ market. The Farmers’ market is available every Wednesday and provides a way for farmers, bakers, and artisans to bring awareness to their products. This was made to strengthen the community at the park, and provides a great opportunity to socialize with locals. Phase one of the master plan is building support from locals for the renovations at the park.
Phase Two: Goals for the Near Future
Phase two of the plan refers to goals that the DPD intends to accomplish in the near future. The second phase includes the first major infrastructure improvements. These renovations may temporarily limit park activity. While this may halt visitors to the park, these amenities being added are designed to bring people to the park by adding a diversity of activities. These goals are set one to five years from now. Some of these short-term goals include volleyball court construction, futsal court resurfacing, playground updates, and baseball field enhancements.
The volleyball court is set to be built where the smaller play area is currently. The idea behind this is to add a place in the park where teenagers can be separate from young children while still enjoying the park. These volleyball courts will help bring the community together by providing a place where teens or adults are able to play.
The futsal courts were added in 2017, replacing the old tennis courts. However, now it’s time for an upgrade. “It’s time to excavate the material that’s there and put in a new smooth material,” Nochta said. This new smooth flooring will help make the court more usable for futsal and will enhance gameplay.
The playground is being updated in order to meet the community’s needs. The plan for the playground is to expand the footprint toward the western boundary of the park to add additional amenities and nature space to play in. The goal is to add amenities wanted by students, which may include a fitness course, a zipline, a gaga pit, suspended tunnels, and a variety of more slides.
Phase two is still years away, these are high-priority goals that will enhance the community at Madison Park.
Phase Three: Medium-Term Goals
Phase three of the master plan includes high-priority goals; however, they require additional funding as well as a longer timeframe. These goals are anywhere from six to 10 years away. The renovations in phase three require significantly more infrastructure improvements and additional funding. Renovations for phase three include Beck’s Pool redesign as well as the addition of a splashpad, public art gateways, and transforming the soccer field into a multi-use field. These renovations will help improve the community of the park by adding popular amenities that will make the park seem more interesting.
Beck’s Pool’s redesign is in the near future, however, the DPD still needs to secure funding. Michelle Nochta mentioned, “The pool process at Lakewood park took us about two years, so we expect that timeline to be similar to this pool,”. The addition of the splashpad next to the pool provides a space for toddlers who can’t swim to play in water. This will help attract more people to the park and give them another amenity.
Transforming the soccer field into a multipurpose field will help support the community to come to the park to play sports other than soccer. This upgrade is designed to inspire creativity and allow people to play different games, making the park a versatile place for recreation and community engagement.
Phase three goals are goals that could be accomplished within the next decade or so. However, the DPD needs funding from the city to be able to accomplish these goals.
Phase Four: Long-Term Goals
Phase four consists of goals that are of lower priority, which makes them longer-term. Many of these goals require additional planning and funding. These goals are concentrated near the park’s parking lots, which causes less disruption to the park. Some of these goals include a solar canopy on the parking lots, a pump track construction, and an outdoor community gathering space construction. While a lower priority, these goals still serve the same purpose to strengthen the community and serve as amenities to people in the park.
The solar canopies would serve as a way to generate clean energy for electric car chargers. This would help the environment and create cheaper electricity for people to charge their cars.
The addition of a bike pump is being considered, however, but it would be quite costly. The addition of a bike pump would create a space for competitive bikers to be able to ride in the park. However, some community members might oppose this addition, as they value the peaceful and quiet environment of the park and may feel that a bike pump could disrupt the tranquility.
The Community’s Response
Most of the Lakewood community is supportive of the renovation occurring at Madison Park. Many people grew up with the old Madison Park and are excited for the change. The DPD Zach Carnovale, a student at Lakewood High School, said, “It definitely will attract more people and even a newer generation of kids going to this park and enjoying new, really cool attractions.” This renewed focus on the park can help bring people together, which is the DPD’s ultimate goal.
While some of these new features may not seem small on the surface, all of these renovations are helping keep the community together. When asked about the new path being built, Charles Moore, head coach of Lakewood cross country and track, said, “It is a big deal because the way that they built the path, it feeds into the neighborhood, so people can walk up the street that might not have really thought about that as a walking path before leading them right into the park.”
However, one major concern within the community is that the greenery of the park will go away. “That’s the one thing I would say, if you got a park and you got grass, keep as much of it as you possibly can,” Moore said. While many of these renovations require construction, the park plans on keeping as much of the fields and grass open as they possibly can.
The DPD is hard at work applying for funds and planning for the park. These renovations are going to improve the park and help bring a stronger community together. All of this is to make a safer space and to transform Madison Park into the great community hub it can be.
https://www.countyplanning.us/projects/madison-park-master-plan/
