The city of Logansport is looking at selling five of the city parks to make way for new ones and alleviate the amount of maintenance that Parks and Recreation staff does.
And the Logansport Parks and Recreation Board is looking for public input on which of the underused or under-appreciated parks will be the ones to be sold, to be made smaller or to be sponsored. The board members addressed the issue on Wednesday.
The resolution was tabled until the Nov. 10 meeting, where the public can give input.
The parks under consideration for elimination are:
• Burkhart Park: A triangleshaped park where Fifth and Sixth streets and Erie Avenue meet. Parks Board President Dave Smith said it’s not really a park so much as a piece of land.
• Dunwoody Park: East of Riverside Park and at the end of 18th Street, undeveloped and mostly woods. Smith said it isn’t used much anymore.
• Heritage Preservation Park: 428 E. Melbourne Ave., between Melbourne and Market Street, south of the lot where the farmers market is held. The fountain and gazebo would be moved, possibly to the Little Turtle Commons Park, Smith said. The farmers market might move there because the lot on Market Street where it’s at now is being developed, he said.
• Melbourne Park: 1317 W. Melbourne, at the west end of Melbourne. The board members want to keep the basketball courts and playground but get rid of the unused softball fields. Board Member Mike McCord said the girls softball teams are moving to AIM High Park and Sports Complex south of the Cass County 4-H Fairgrounds. Fawley said she doesn’t think the remaining teams will ask to renew the lease agreement with the parks to stay there.
• Patriot Park: 133 Wheatland Ave., just west of the Third Street bridge and north of the Eel River. This is the biggest piece of land on the list, at 1.5 acres, and developers have expressed interest in it, said Mayor Chris Martin. It’s also the most vandalized park in the city, including by fires, Parks Administrator Jan Fawley said. The playground equipment is also the oldest in the parks, about 12 years old. If it’s sold, the parks department would retain the basketball court and possibly the playground.
Two parks suggested for consideration but the board decided against were:
• Stonewall Park: On High Street near the jail addition being built. The board members felt that because it would be part of the trail system and Cass County maintains it, the park was not a burden and had future use.
• Memorial Park: Northwest corner of the Market Street Bridge (across from Logansport Tire). The land has a monument put up by the Daughters of the American Revolution. There’s also a flagpole there. Fawley suggested getting a sponsorship of the park.
Mayor Chris Martin said that before the meeting, he gave the parks board the goal of five parks that they should give up to take away the strain of maintenance on the park staff.
The parks department will eventually have other parks to take care of: the planned disc golf course out near the Ivy Tech campus on the south side of the city, a possible skate park and the planned urban park, which will go downtown where the Salvation Army building once was.
The resolution also mentioned additional trails coming.
Martin said the city is trying to get itself and the county away from the river, which is getting interest from developers.
That’s especially true with the old power plant and water plant coming down, and “housing is a big opportunity along the river,” he said.
The Riverside trail, which will likely be done in five or six phases, is also making that appealing, he added. That trail is still in very early planning stages, but Martin’s administration will bring something before the community in January.
McCord said that with the dams on the Eel River being removed, the flood plain will change and perhaps make some areas better for development.
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