Planning for the future of Memorial Park has begun. This area includes such facilities as the Jackson Arena, David Gale Recreation Center, Community Playground, the baseball and softball fields, tennis courts and basketball court. Funding was authorized at the March 2009 Town Meeting for the development of a master plan.
A Request for Proposal was released during the summer and the bid awarded in August to Broadreach Planning and Design. The Consultant, Jim Donovan provided a scope of work and will be meeting with Town Commissions and Boards, facilitating three Public Work Sessions and working with a Project Advisory Committee made up of various stakeholders. He will be responsible for making his professional recommendation to the Selectboard on proposed uses and facilities for the Park in January 2010. The meeting schedule is available on this website and the community is encouraged to attend the Public Work Sessions.
Throughout the master planning process, information will be posted on this website and available for review. Comments are welcome and can be emailed directly to Jim Donovan, our Consultant at bikeped@gmavt.net .
Additionally, Stowe Parks and Recreation will be working closely with the Mr. Donovan. If you have questions, please contact Park and Recreation Director Marge McIntosh or 253-2264.
There are several issues that the Town needs to consider as it thinks about the development of a Master Plan for Memorial Park. A few of the more important ones are briefly discussed here...
Information gathered by Mr. Donovan from interviews with community members, boards and town documents is included in the Background Information Memo attached.
Mr. Donovan has provided background information on his firm in a consultant introduction.
Task 4 Memo: Park Program The purpose of this memo is to present the program for Memorial Park. The program is the master list for what uses and activities the Town of Stowe would like to see in Memorial Park in the next 5 to 20 years. It will serve as a guide to how the physical layout of how the park should be developed.
December 14th Meeting Information
The Town, with coordination from the Parks and Recreation Department, has been working on creating a master plan for Memorial Park. Memorial Park is located at the south edge of the Village, close to the Stowe Elementary School. It currently houses the Jackson Arena, David Gale Recreation Center, Community Playground, three ball fields, two tennis courts, basketball court, the Parks and Recreation Department’s service yard, over eleven acres of open land, and a few other recreational facilities.
Over the years recreation demands have grown in Stowe and various uses and facilities have been suggested for Memorial Park, such as, a refurbished Jackson Arena, a new ice rink, a skateboard park, an indoor performance space and a restored Rotary Barn. The Selectboard appointed a Project Advisory Committee made up of various stakeholders to work with Broadreach Planning & Design (BRPD), a landscape architectural consulting firm from Charlotte, Vermont on the Master Plan. In addition, the Town is pursuing projects in the Village of Stowe that will increase the vibrancy of the village and views the Park as a major asset in this regard. The vision of a dynamic, comprehensive, year-round, multi-use, attractive, restful, well planned and designed complex is part of this larger Town vision. Understanding what the Town residents and users of Memorial Park think about it is an important part of the development of the Master Plan.
The BRPD team developed two alternative possible layouts after extensive analysis of the existing conditions and needs, a thorough discussion with numerous Town residents, boards and commission on what would be appropriate to include in the plan, and several discussions with the Project Advisory Committee about possible options and alternatives for the master plan. The Town Recreation Department has posted the results of this earlier work on the Town Website.
These alternatives include those things that BRPD, as part of the earlier steps in the Master Plan process, determined would be appropriate for inclusion in Memorial Park. They developed the list, which was reviewed by the Selectboard, from the information gathered from the initial analysis of existing conditions and needs; current general recreational standards and trends; and discussions with the Project Advisory Committee, the public, and Stowe High School students. The uses in this list are presented in alphabetical order:
§ Basketball *
§ Indoor Ice Rink *
§ Indoor Active & Passive Recreation Space (Larger than existing Gale Center)
§ Little League Field *
§ Natural Areas and Nature Trails
§ Open Air Pavilion or Small Rain Shelter)
§ Open Playing Fields
§ Outdoor Ice Skating (as possible with alternate summer use of the space)
§ Outdoor Passive Recreation Features
§ Outdoor Skate Park *
§ Outdoor Theater (as a future potential only with development of a second access point)
§ Parks & Recreation Department Office *
§ Picnic Area
§ Sledding Hill *
§ Tennis *
§ Volleyball/Sand Volleyball
§ Water Play Feature/Fountain
* These facilities already exist in or close to the Park.
The two alternatives presented here for Memorial Park represent two different approaches to completing the Master Plan; one for making the minimum and one for making the maximum number of improvements to the park to meet the Town’s vision for the Park. They are not presented as final products, but rather as starting points for a discussion of what the final plan should be. The final master plan will most likely be a blending of these two plans, with possibly some other modifications added after the analysis of these alternatives is finished. After reviewing the plans and the background information, you are invited to submit your comments on the alternatives to bikeped@gmavt.net.
Both of the alternatives address the poor pedestrian and bicycle access to the park via the existing entry from Park Place with additional sidewalks, crosswalks, signage and other improvements. Both alternatives extend these improvements into the park with better park-wide pedestrian circulation systems. They also both work as much as possible within the various stream and wetland setbacks in the park while upgrading and expanding parking facilities, vehicular circulation and user safety and convenience.
The minimum alternative calls for the redevelopment of the Jackson Arena using the existing permits the Town now has in place. It includes the removal of the existing David Gale Recreation Center and the construction of a new, larger Gale Center up on the raised portion of the park close to the new Jackson Arena. It keeps the existing tennis and basketball courts, parking areas, ball fields, and playground, but with upgrades or reconstruction of most of these facilities. This alternative also includes:
§ The addition of a skateboard park in the location of the existing Gale Center,
§ The installation of a volleyball court between the skateboard park and the tennis courts,
§ The addition of several openings in the fences around the ball fields for easier access and the modification of existing signs to make the grass playing area more accessible and inviting,
§ The addition of a small permanent restroom and concession/vending machine area,
§ The reorganization and fencing of the existing maintenance area,
§ The creation of an outdoor theater in the back area,
§ The construction of new pedestrian trails and links to the surrounding roadways as well as a more extensive and convenient pedestrian circulation systems,
§ The creation of a new memorial garden, and
§ The upgrading of user amenities.
This plan’s major expenses are the construction of the new ice arena on the footprint of the existing Jackson Arena, the construction of a new David Gale Center, the eventual reconstruction of the tennis and basketball courts, the installation of permanent restrooms, and the installation of a new skateboard park.
The maximum alternative calls for the construction of a new ice arena in the rear or the park, accessed by a new, second entrance to the park constructed either across the wetland area from Depot Street or down the incline from Stowe Hollow Road. Until the arena is built, the existing Jackson Arena would continue to operate as it has historically and after the construction of the new arena would operate as a summer covered recreation area for the Town’s Recreation Department and other Town activities. This plan also includes a total redesign of the existing main parking area to reorganize the traffic flow so that the park users never need to cross the park entry road from Park Place and can go directly from the main parking area to the various park facilities. To realize this new parking area, the plan includes several other modifications to the park. It calls for the relocation of the existing baseball and softball fields to the high school. This move also requires the acquisition of an easement on open space adjacent to the high school for use as athletic fields and the reorganization and construction of new athletic fields on this property and the existing high school property. The plan also shows:
§ The relocation of the existing little league field to the location of the current baseball field in the park;
§ The relocation of the tennis and expanded basketball courts to the area currently occupied by the softball field;
§ The relocation and expansion of the Gale Recreation Center up close to the existing Jackson Arena;
§ The construction of a new skateboard park, volleyball courts, and permanent restrooms in the vicinity of the current little league field,
§ The addition of new pedestrian trails and links to the surrounding roadways and a more extensive and convenient pedestrian circulation systems;
§ The creation of a new memorial garden, and
§ An upgrading of user amenities.
This alternative includes numerous costly items, including:
§ The preparation of new plans and the acquisition of new permits for the relocated ice arena;
§ The acquisition of permits and the construction of one and possibly two new roadways into the park, including a bridge for the Depot Street access;
§ The relocation and reconstruction of most of the existing facilities in the park,
§ The relocation of the baseball and softball fields to the high school,
§ The construction of new roadways and parking areas,
§ The relocation and expansion of the Gale Center, and
§ The addition of permanent restrooms.
For either alternative, it would be possible to reuse the existing Old Congregational Church (The Rotary Barn) as part of the new Gale Recreation Center, if the Town residents are able to raise the needed funds to restore the building within the time frame of when a new indoor recreation center would be ready for construction (probably 3 to 5 years).
Both alternative layouts also call for the eventual acquisition of the property that includes the sledding hill, which is not actually part of Memorial Park.
The BRPD team is particularly interested in knowing if you:
§ Have any particular aspects of the plans that you either like or dislike;
§ Think the layouts adequately provide for the items the Town has decided should be in Memorial Park;
§ Think either alternative places too much or too little emphasis on one particular activity or use;
§ Favor one layout option over the other; or
§ Have other comments or thoughts on the alternatives.
In the next few weeks, the BRPD team will be developing a draft final plan for further consideration and review by the Town. Watch for more information in the Stowe Reporter.
Please read on.....!
January 25, 2010 Selectboard Meeting Information
This information presents the draft plan and the information that led to its creation for the Selectboard's consideration. Information includes the Executive Summary; information table and 3 phased layouts. The attached table highlights each of the important elements of the site plan and indicated why they are included in the plan and why they are located as they are within the Park. Site plans for the master plan, as presented in phases are also attached.
