Vincennes Parks' 5-year plan done and headed to state officials

They could suggest additions or changes, he said, or give it a thumbs up.

“It might be nothing or they might want us to add two or three things, we'll just have to see,” Beaman said. “But when it's done, we'll make sure to post it to our website, put a copy at City Hall, so everyone can take a look.”

Beaman and members of the parks board for months had solicited the public for suggestions on how they want to see the four parks evolve over the next five years.

They've asked park-goers to fill out surveys and even held a public meeting at City Hall to garner feedback.

For the most part, they weren't inundated with suggestions or demands, something Beaman and the parks board took as a sign that they were already moving in the right direction.

In the last couple of years, the city council has paid to put $95,000 in new equipment at Gregg Park and resurfaced the walking trail there, too.

There's the new $3.8 million Rainbow Beach Aquatic Center and improvements coming to Four Lakes Park as well.

Mostly, park-goers wanted more of the same, Beaman said.

Included in the plan, he said, near the top of the list, in fact, is the restoration of the enclosed shelter house and bandshell at Gregg Park, both Works Progress Administration projects in need of some TLC.

Beaman plans to apply for a state grant to help fund the work, the same grant that is currently helping to fund $150,000 in improvements at the historic post office downtown, now home to the Vincennes Police Department at 501 Busseron St.

Also on the list of to-do's, he said, is resurfacing the tennis courts at Gregg Park, and the parks board wants to develop a “Friends of the Parks” organization that can aid in fundraising efforts.

“There's a lot of things we want to do,” Beaman said. “We think we can use this plan as a yearly guide and, also, a tool that we can take before the city council when we need money for projects.”

Beaman called the 5-year plan a “working document, a wish list” of sorts that the parks board plans to actively use, not merely place on a shelf to collect dust.

“And it's not like we put projects on here that are sky high,” he said of the associated costs. “These are things that need to be done.”

The plan includes several smaller projects, too, he said, specifically new-and-improved signage for the four parks.

And to go with all the changes, he said, the parks board wants to rebrand itself, too. Members and staff are working on a new logo that would adorn the new signs and any marketing materials.

The existing logo, Beaman said, features the parks department's acronym, “VPRD” with a little tree to one side.

A new design, one that's still evolving, he said, includes a family of four walking on a trail with the department's new tag line, “Great Parks Make Great Communities,” in the space above.

“We just wanted to change it up and make it pop more to the eye,” he said. “We want something brighter as we move forward with more changes.”

Beaman said parks officials also hope to move forward with the construction of a new enclosed shelter house at Four Lakes Park yet this summer.

The city's Redevelopment Commission last year agreed to spend more than $350,000 sprucing up the rather neglected park, but Beaman said the money hasn't gone quite as far as originally hoped.

The parking lots there, including the large one adjacent to Hill Field, have been resurfaced as a part of the project, and the shelter house will be fine, too.

But any other projects — like the construction of a spray park there, more playground equipment, the resurfacing of the basketball and tennis courts and additional seating — will have to wait until they can come up with more funding.

“One thing at a time,” Beaman said.