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Prairie Village to develop parks master plan
By: Kelli Bamforth, Staff Writer
Prairie Village has partnered with Indigo Design to determine the future of parks and recreation programs in the city.
The firm will assist Prairie Village in developing a parks master plan, a process that will include citizen surveys and meetings with various stakeholders, including elected officials and Park and Recreation Committee members.
The total cost to hire Indigo Design is $56,200, which will come from the 2008 budget.
Chris Engel, assistant to the city administrator, said the idea to create a comprehensive plan for parks and recreational programming has been in the works for years. Mayor Ron Shaffer appointed a parks master plan subcommittee consisting of council members, park and recreation officials, and citizens.
“We feel like we have a good group of people passionate and concerned about parks,” Engel said. “The mayor basically appointed them to find a consultant to come in and help measure what we’re doing in our parks versus industry standards in terms of, say, how we run the swimming pool, and also take a hard look at the parks to see if there are things missing.
“We don’t think anything is broken but we just want somebody to come in and say either we’re doing a great job, or suggest enhancements.”
The subcommittee chose Indigo over three other firms, citing the appeal of the firm’s local ties and personalization.
“They have a theme that ties everything they do together, based on the book ‘Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder’ by Richard Louv,” Engel said. “The theme is that children these days don’t go outside that much … when we were kids, we used to go play outside. We didn’t play video games. There’s a lack of (playing outside) these days, and that is central to Indigo’s philosophy.”
So far, Indigo Design representatives have met with the city’s key stakeholders and have contracted with other firms to collect the city’s demographics and analyze pool operations.
A key component of the process is a citizen survey mailed to 2,100 Prairie Village houses at random last week, Engel said. The city hopes to learn what residents want to see in parks and recreation programs.
“That’s the whole point, to find out where we should go in the next 15 to 20 years so that we can enhance the lives of Prairie Village citizens and reach across demographics … to kids with families, our older population,” Engel said. “We like to think we have (our finger on) the pulse of the citizens, but we don’t. We would like to know what they want to see.”
Indigo needs to receive at least 400 completed surveys to garner statistically valid information, Engel said. Residents are asked to return surveys by Sept. 12.
“As they come in they will start to align the direction of the planning process with what the people want,” he said. “Maybe they want trails, dog parks, we don’t know. Until we hear from the people, we don’t want to go forward and don’t want to presume anything.”
The master planning process should be comple-ted by the end of the year.
The final product would be a plan not necessarily undertaken from day one, but one of suggestions on how to use future parks and recreation funds when they become available, Engel said.
“If the consultants say we should consider this, or we find out the people want that, it makes the process easier so we’re not just throwing money at something,” he said. “We’ll have some direction from someone who knows more than we do about how to best direct that funding … there’s no start/stop date for the plan.”
Prairie Village Parks and Recreation
Prairie Village maintains 14 parks, including the city’s skate park, Carroll Plaza and the Taliaferro Sculpture Garden. Recreation programs include a swim team, 186 participants; dive team, 37 participants; a synchronized swimming team, 34 participants; and a Kansas City Junior Tennis League Team, 82 members.
The Parks Master Plan Subcommittee is chaired by Ward 6 Councilwoman Diana Ewy Sharp, who also serves as chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee.
Other subcommittee members are: Ward 1 Councilman Al Herrera; Jim Bernard Jr., parks and recreation committee; Kathy Peterson, parks and recreation committee; Randy Kronblad, Arts Council; Nancy Wallerstein, former council member and past chair of Johnson County Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners; and Randy Knight, Johnson County Parks and Recreation.
Contact Kelli Bamforth at 385-6024 or kellibamforth@sunpublications.com.
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The firm will assist Prairie Village in developing a parks master plan, a process that will include citizen surveys and meetings with various stakeholders, including elected officials and Park and Recreation Committee members.
The total cost to hire Indigo Design is $56,200, which will come from the 2008 budget.
Chris Engel, assistant to the city administrator, said the idea to create a comprehensive plan for parks and recreational programming has been in the works for years. Mayor Ron Shaffer appointed a parks master plan subcommittee consisting of council members, park and recreation officials, and citizens.
“We feel like we have a good group of people passionate and concerned about parks,” Engel said. “The mayor basically appointed them to find a consultant to come in and help measure what we’re doing in our parks versus industry standards in terms of, say, how we run the swimming pool, and also take a hard look at the parks to see if there are things missing.
“We don’t think anything is broken but we just want somebody to come in and say either we’re doing a great job, or suggest enhancements.”
The subcommittee chose Indigo over three other firms, citing the appeal of the firm’s local ties and personalization.
“They have a theme that ties everything they do together, based on the book ‘Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder’ by Richard Louv,” Engel said. “The theme is that children these days don’t go outside that much … when we were kids, we used to go play outside. We didn’t play video games. There’s a lack of (playing outside) these days, and that is central to Indigo’s philosophy.”
So far, Indigo Design representatives have met with the city’s key stakeholders and have contracted with other firms to collect the city’s demographics and analyze pool operations.
A key component of the process is a citizen survey mailed to 2,100 Prairie Village houses at random last week, Engel said. The city hopes to learn what residents want to see in parks and recreation programs.
“That’s the whole point, to find out where we should go in the next 15 to 20 years so that we can enhance the lives of Prairie Village citizens and reach across demographics … to kids with families, our older population,” Engel said. “We like to think we have (our finger on) the pulse of the citizens, but we don’t. We would like to know what they want to see.”
Indigo needs to receive at least 400 completed surveys to garner statistically valid information, Engel said. Residents are asked to return surveys by Sept. 12.
“As they come in they will start to align the direction of the planning process with what the people want,” he said. “Maybe they want trails, dog parks, we don’t know. Until we hear from the people, we don’t want to go forward and don’t want to presume anything.”
The master planning process should be comple-ted by the end of the year.
The final product would be a plan not necessarily undertaken from day one, but one of suggestions on how to use future parks and recreation funds when they become available, Engel said.
“If the consultants say we should consider this, or we find out the people want that, it makes the process easier so we’re not just throwing money at something,” he said. “We’ll have some direction from someone who knows more than we do about how to best direct that funding … there’s no start/stop date for the plan.”
Prairie Village Parks and Recreation
Prairie Village maintains 14 parks, including the city’s skate park, Carroll Plaza and the Taliaferro Sculpture Garden. Recreation programs include a swim team, 186 participants; dive team, 37 participants; a synchronized swimming team, 34 participants; and a Kansas City Junior Tennis League Team, 82 members.
The Parks Master Plan Subcommittee is chaired by Ward 6 Councilwoman Diana Ewy Sharp, who also serves as chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee.
Other subcommittee members are: Ward 1 Councilman Al Herrera; Jim Bernard Jr., parks and recreation committee; Kathy Peterson, parks and recreation committee; Randy Kronblad, Arts Council; Nancy Wallerstein, former council member and past chair of Johnson County Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners; and Randy Knight, Johnson County Parks and Recreation.
Contact Kelli Bamforth at 385-6024 or kellibamforth@sunpublications.com.