Two consulting firms presented the final drafts of suggestions for the future look of Lewisburg’s parks and open spaces at a public meeting last Thursday.

Common Ground and HFR were retained by the city to create an overall parks master plan and specific proposals for two of the city’s parks, respectively.

Common Ground’s Keith Covington presented the final draft of those plans for comment before they are forwarded to the city council for inclusion in the city’s long-term Vision Lewisburg 2035 plan.

Parks and open spaces were one of the three areas emphasized by the Vision Lewisburg 2035 plan adopted several years ago.

Covington said that the goal of developing the parks master plan was to update the vision plan goals and to add more detail to that plan.

The process included public meetings for residents to offer their own visions of what they would like to see in their public parks.

“You can’t have a good parks plan without input from the community,” said Covington.

Prior to developing any plans, Common Ground assessed the condition and offerings of each individual park in the city.

Overall, they suggested that the city develop a parks security plan to guarantee safe and inviting parks, develop a maintenance plan for the system, develop standards for signage and direction finding in the parks, and develop individual park plans prior to improvements.

While individual park plans were not in the scope of their study, the Common Ground master plan did address ADA compliance needs and general upgrades needed for existing features.

The city prioritized Jones and Harmon Parks for particular attention after focussing on Rock Creek and the Rec Center for the last several projects.

Consulting firm HFR presented specific plans for both of those parks.

Both plans shared several features: upgrading existing court surfaces, renovating restrooms to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, and improving lighting and existing equipment.

For Harmon Park, one included feature was a proposed skate park, based on public feedback of the system’s need.

For Jones Park, the recommendations were more drastic, including relocating the playground to the lower part of the park and incorporating the hillside into the play area, building new horseshoe pits in the area vacated by the playground, and installing a splash pad or some other type of water feature in the lower part of the park.

These plans, if adopted by the council, will serve as guidelines for possible future development in the system, based on resident feedback.

Incorporating them into an overall framework will only ease the city’s ability to secure grant funding with which to complete the projects, City Manager Randall Dunn said.