Two architecture firms will present ideas on Algood’s park expansion to the Algood City Council and the public Monday night.
Algood Mayor Lisa Chapman-Fowler said lots of ideas have been discussed about what amenities should be included in the expansion. Chapman-Fowler said the ideas start the process of potentially dedicating more money to building out the park.
“We will have to decide if we’re going to issue a bond, how much the bond needs to be for, and how long it needs to be,” Chapman-Fowler said. “I’ll be out of office. If it’s a 20-year bond, I’ll be dead and gone. But I just don’t want to leave Algood in an untenable position of having that over the citizens that are living there now and will be living there. So I’m very concerned about the expense.”
The council has pursued multiple grants to fund the park’s buildout, but has not had success. Council members have repeatedly said residents seem to be frustrated with the lack of movement.
“I know if you go out there now, you have the rest room area and you have the walkway,” Chapman-Fowler said. “You have a few swings and slides and that thing. And there’s dog park there, too, but it looks very meager. It’s not the grand park that we had planned for, but it also doesn’t have the grand price tag either. So we are, as you say, at a crossroads. What do you want and what are you willing to pay for it? I guess that’s where we’re at.”
Chapman-Fowler said it might make sense for the community to consider phases to the plan over the next decade. Still, she said, the community needs a plan and a willingness to pay.
“If we want a community center building over there, or if we want a ball court over there, or whatever the pieces or the components are going to be, let’s have a five-year phase, and then let me see, can you do the next section?” Chapman-Fowler said. “How much is that going to be? We could do it like that rather than going in and doing everything all at once with one ginormous expense. But again, and that’s another thing I hope we’ll find out, is maybe piecemealing is not the way to do it.”
Chapman-Fowler said ideas ranging from workout facilities to a Veterans Memorial to an amphitheater have been discussed. The firms will present ideas Monday night as well as potential ways to breakup the expansion. Chapman-Fowler said that session will be a listening session. Debate and deliberation are not permitted at a work session.
“But on the council night the very next night, they’ll be able to tell us what they think, which architect they thought what was the best, what design was the best, what they might leave out, what they might add,” Chapman-Fowler said.
“We’re trying to be a good steward of the city’s money, of the citizens’ money,” Chapman-Fowler said. “We want the best, as they say, bang for the buck. That’s why we’re so interested in making sure that we have the features, what I might think is a priority, somebody else might not.”
Monday’s work session begins at 5pm at City Hall. The Council meeting takes place Tuesday at 6pm.
The city purchased the park in 2017. It stretches from Main Street back to Highway 111.
