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Home My Public Portal AboutPLAN DEVELOPMENT 0 PLAN DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC INPUT METHODS Public input was sought for this project in several soccer facilities, and disc gold facilities. Key key ways. points that came from stakeholders included: ■ A public survey was made available ■ Parking needs to be better defined and online and in printed form to understand circulation needs to be improved how the public uses the parks and what they expect out of the park system. um indoor meeting facility would be • Two public meetings were held at beneficial to all leagues Greencastle City Hall to seek thoughts ■ Lit facilities for all leagues and additional and ideas on new facilities and programs lighting for security desired for the park system. ■ WiFi coverage is desired • A stakeholder workshop was held with stakeholders of Big Walnut Sports Park ■ Installation of fitness structures around to gain a better understanding on how the perimeter ^, the sports leagues operate at the facility ■ Additional restrooms are needed on the and to listens to thoughts and ideas for south side of the park near the dog park, improvements to the facility. disc golf, and shelter buildings • Sport specific storage facilities STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP • A location for indoor and off-season 1 An individual stakeholder meeting was held on training is needed November 3, 2017 between 7:00 p.m. and 8 p.m. ■ Drinking fountains are needed for with key influencers and users of Big Walnut baseball and basketball facilities Sports Park. Stakeholders at the meeting represented Greencastle Girl's Softball (fast- in Soccer facilities need a new concession pitch and slow-pitch), Putnam County Youth facility with electric and water services, Soccer Association, A Kinetic Change, and permanent restrooms, and fencing Greencastle Boys Baseball. In total there were 8 • Disc golf facilities need electric service attendees that offered public input. for the shelters j Major talking points of the meeting included recommended improvements to general facilities such as parking,lighting,and restroom, baseball facilities, softball facilities, basketball facilities, I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIOIIFIIIOLIIIIIAIIIOI PLAN DEVELOPMENT ► 25 PUBLIC SURVEY Figure 3.1:Age °`•„/+ A survey with 25 questions was developed and #04111% distributed online via social media and provided in hard copy format, upon request. The survey •�° become open to the public on October 15, 2017 "'' 'I and closed on November 16, 2017. A total of 324 • people responded to the survey online and an •», _. . additional 104 hard copies of the survey were •"'""' '' %falai completed and tabulated into the overall results shown here.A full copy of the survey results can be found in the document appendix. A summary Figure 3.2:Park Proximity of the survey results is provided on the following (111111 pages. The age of survey respondents varied from the local demographics of Greencastle with • 1/2 rle approximately 78%of respondents being between ,app,x i°'°'�u'"`,k; t 25 and 54years old. The majority of respondents •` ' live in Greencastle (80%) and approximately 27% •M- of respondents indicated they live within a 5 to 10 minute walk from a park. ftgO More than 38%of respondents visit the park on a weekly basis and more than 71% of respondents Figure 3.3:Frequency of Park Facilities Use visit the parks on a monthly basis.Approximately f d 1: 7% of the respondents visited the parks daily. Of those visiting a park, Robe-Ann Park is the most visited park at 87%,followed by Big Walnut Sports Park at 76%, then People Pathways at .,, ,. 1111 114 mual 60%, and Jaycee Park at 19%. Maple Berry Park, Calbert Way Park, Mary Rodgers Field Park, and '"""` ''` Micaela Cancilla Park all came in under 3%. Over 67% of respondents used other regional parks and recreational facilities frequently, indicating how important these facilities are in fulfilling the Figure 3.4: Use of Existing Park Facilities overall recreational needs of the Greencastle community.Commonly visited recreational areas listed by survey respondents include DePauw Nature Preserve, Lieber State Recreation Area, Mary Rodger,cc'.,i-ark • 3% Turkey Run State Park, Raccoon Lake State • 4% Recration Area, McCormicks Creek, and McCloud Nature Park. 19% The most popular activities among respondents 7D% 78% were walking/jogging (75%) spending time iilifiroefioofffssirafNmsirNimrmairmiffmffirarirarssarssafsNirai GREENCASTLE PARK AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN 26 i Figure 3.5:Participation in Activities and Amenities Time with Family/Friends 50% Special Events and Festivals 38% Swimming/Aquatics Center 42% Splash Park 30% Pickle Bali 5% ■Tennis •Disc Golf •Shelter Houses •Playgrounds •Picnicking I Basketball ■Football 5% •Baseball/softball/t-ball •Soccer •Skateboarding 2% ■Bicycling •Walking/jogging /'N Figure 3.6:Programming Needs ■Other(please specify) 6% •Indoor recreation opportunities �!•;'; ■Workforce development/life skills classes 15% "'Young child(3-5 years)programs 20% •Adaptive(therapeutic) recreation 14% a Inter-generational activities 10% ■Senior programs •Youth programs 26% •Swimming lessons,aquatic programs 27%, ■Outdoor winter activities 30 0; •Youth summer camps 29% 1 Adult sports 36% ■Outdoor recreation ■Wellness programs ■Nature programs/environmental education •Hobby/interest classes ■Fitness classes 47% ■Community events 53% "1 PLAN DEVELOPMENT ► 27 with family/friends (50%), playgrounds (50%), Jaycee Park, Ballard Family Park, and other swimming/aquatics center (42%), picnicking unique opportunities for the park system. Key (40%), special events and festivals (38%), and points that came from the public meeting include: bicycling (32%). • To improve the maintenance of the park The highest priorities for facility improvements in system the park system were restrooms in parks and on trails (55%), and Wi-Fi at facilities (40%), indoor • Addition of a rope course or adventure fitness equipment/weight room (38%). Other course popular recommendations included drinking/ ■ Better system wayfinding doggie fountains (32%), multi-purpose fitness • Better park distribution throughout the classrooms(25%),trail signage and mile markers community specifically in the northwest (24%), and outdoor public pool improvements corner (23%). ■ Additional senior programming Top results for programming needs included • Connection of Jaycee Park to the park community events (53%), fitness classes (47%), system indoor recreation opportunities (45%), and outdoor recreation (39%). ■ The aquatics center could benefit from additional attractions such as a climbing The top three highest priority capital wall, a lazy river, pool expansion for an improvement projects from respondents activity pool, larger slide, more splash included updating park appearance (33%), features, and a miniature golf course adding additional trails for walking/jogging/ • Robe-Ann Park needs upgraded biking (32%), and updating/adding lighting to basketball courts, overall beautification, parks (31%). a drive through display for a holiday tight festival, resurfacing of driveways and PUBLIC MEETINGS sidewalks, more activities for older kids, and connections to adjacent apartment There was a total of three public meetings conducted for the plan. The first of two public • Jaycee Park needs to be developed meetings for the plan was held on November into a usable area with more police 3, 2017 between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at patrols, electric service, addition of a Greencastle City Halt. In total there were 10 fishing pond and camping facilities attendees at the meeting, none of which were and expansion of the current mountain from the general public.Attendees were a part of biking trail Greencastle Parks and Recreation Department, • Ballard Family Park should be connected Greencastle Board of Park Commissioners, and to Calbert Way Park. The area would be Banner Graphic Newspaper. a nice picnic location and could include restrooms, a gazebo, parking, and The purpose of the first public meeting was to possible heirloom/heritage plan garden seek thoughts and ideas on new facilities and programs desired for the park system. Major • Other unique opportunities for the park talking points included general system needs system included the quarry property such as park staff, budget, police patrols, and next to Robe Anne Park to be used for signage, the aquatics center, Robe-Ann Park, recreational use, community education, 410 4111141101110 GREENCASTLE PARK AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN 28 4 (04 revamping of programming, and a great KEY POINTS FROM THE PUBLIC need for a community recreation center. • Overall beautification of all parks through maintenance and plantings The second public meeting was held on January • Better wayfinding and programming 4, 2018 at 7 p.m. during the regularly schedule ■ Better park distribution in the northwest Board of Park Commissioners meeting. The corner of the community second meeting had one member of the general public in attendance. The third, and final public ■ To make Jaycee Park a more connection meeting was held on April 5, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. and usable park This meeting was a final presentation of the ■ Possible opportunity for Robe-Ann Park master plan to the public. to have recreational activities around the quarry All public meetings were advertised via Facebook, email, local newspaper, radio, and • Added attractions to the aquatic center direct phone contact. ■ For Ballard Park to be a picnic area that connects to Calbert Way Park ADDITIONAL PUBLIC INPUT • A community recreation center is greatly Other public inputwas received from the Fraternal needed for the community Order of Police (FOP) and received via emails KEY POINTS FROM THE STAKEHOLDERS from community members. Additionally, there were two independent stakeholder workshops • Parking at Big Walnut Sports Park needs conducted during the study. One at the beginning a better circulation pattern and to be of the planning process which included city better defined staff, elected officials, and other city deprtment • Specific sport storage is needed representatives. The other stakeholder ■ Restroom facilities are needed near the workshop was conducted immediately prior to disc golf facilities the first public meeting and incuded 14 people including representatives from the major youth ■ A indoor meeting facility is needed sports programs,the police department,and city • Lighted facilities for all leagues park staff. ■ Electric services for soccer facilities and shelters near disc golf facilities SUMMARY OF PUBLIC INPUT • WiFi coverage is desired Each type of public input method used was beneficial to gaining a better perspective of the community and the expectations of the parks system. The following issues were the top issues discussed by both the public and by the stakeholders. PLAN DEVELOPMENT ► 29 RECOMMENDATION SYNTHESIS The information gathered at the public meetings and from the public survey is a critically important component of developing overall improvement recommendations for the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Information gathered through these formats was combined with data collected during the park site inventories and relevant demographic data to help develop a draft set of recommendations. The early draft recommendations were presented to Greencastle Parks and Recreation Department staff and vetted against factors such as anticipated budget and staffing resources. The result of this exercise was a realistic, yet ambitious, list of facility and programming initiatives that the department should focus on for the next five years and beyond. The draft list of improvements was then provided to the Parks Board and the general public for additional review and comment. After additional adjustments, the resulting projects then became a finalized list 4110 of recommendations which were then used to formulate the implementation portion of this plan.The full results of this process can be found in the implementation chapter at the end of the plan document. GREENCASTLE PARK AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN 30 1