JEFFERSONVILLE — A five-year plan for Jeffersonville's parks systems identifies the need for a large, centralized signature park — and city officials hope expanding Vissing Park by 160 acres can fulfill that need.
"In our parks system, we have a lot of specialty parks or pocket parks," Jeffersonville Parks Authority Board President Bill Burns said. "I do think we lack a little bit of larger greenspace that I would say is just more traditional park area."
Property next to Vissing Park is up for sale. The master plan, developed by architect firm Kovert Hawkins, recommends buying it in the next few years.
The relatively undeveloped, wooded land has streams and open greenspace, making it ideal for a more natural setting, the plan states. The expansion would include playing fields, walking and bike trails, and entertainment and education venues.
Burns compared the park's vision to Cherokee Park in Louisville.
"I think if you look at a larger park, it's going to attract more people and have more activities," Burns said.
The catch — the project has a total $18 million price tag.
"It's always a challenge with funding," Burns said.
A massive expansion of Vissing Park would help Jeffersonville fill a public greenspace hole set by state and national standards.
With the city's 160 to 170 acres of public parks, national standards that measure acres to number of people put Jeffersonville short 117 to 312 acres. State standards say the city needs 747 more acres.
The gap widened when Jeffersonville annexed new territory in the last decade. A growing population also means the acres-per-person ratio changes.
Still, the city's parks system continues to grow. Recent new parks include Fisherman's Wharf and Big Four Station.
While the deficits may seem stark, Burns pointed it they don't capture the full extent of what Jeffersonville's parks department offers.
"Are we deficient on some greenspace? Yes. Do we want to address that? We would love to if we can find the funding," Burns said. "We do make up for that by some of the other offerings that we do have that are not greenspace-related."
That includes events, concerts, festivals — most of which are free.
With limited funding, the parks authority will have to make some decisions about which recommendations from the master plan to pursue.
It could phase expansion of Vissing Park, beginning with buying the land. Then, they could hold off on developing until more funding is secured.
"They're not making anymore land," Burns said. "If we're going to expand the parks system, we're going to have to start thinking about it in the next couple of years if we're going to do larger scale."
The plan identified land the city already owns Meadows Park, but it hasn't been developed. Right now, it's being used as as drainage mitigation.
Meadows Park is another place that could be converted into a natural-setting park, but it needs work. The project is estimated to cost $2.2 million.
And that's just one other suggestion. The master plan recommends eight future parks, costing a total of $31.3 million.
"Maintenance is always a concern," Burns said.
The parks department's Green Team, or maintenance group, will take a more aggressive approach in the coming years to maintenance public spaces, Burns said.
But any new park will add to the city's maintenance load.
"Personally, before we start expanding a great deal, we have to address what we already have so that they're usable," Burns said.
Now that the parks authority has approved the master plan, it can begin deciding which projects to take on.
"With that being said, we don't know what the dollar amount of the funding will be until we get to that stage," Burns said.