The Friends of Needham Park are working with Park Pride on a vision plan for Needham Park. Through the Park Visioning process neighbors are examining their collective and current needs and desires for this small, beautiful park. The outcome of “park visioning” is a new, community-supported park vision plan that can be used for advocacy and fundraising.
Thank you to everyone in the community who reviewed preliminary plans for Needham Park on April 18 at Corinth Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. Couldn’t make it to the meeting? Download the presentation HERE!
Steering committee members, as well as the visioning team from Park Pride, were on hand to answer questions and listen to ideas, thoughts, and opinions. Participants filled out feedback forms at the meeting and we are well on our way to creating a unified vision plan reflecting the community’s wishes.
For those who were not able to stop by, we have published the preliminary concept plans below and asking for your input!
Will you give your input and ideas to make the
park’s vision plan the best that it can be?
Park Pride’s vision plans are detailed tools that communities can use to advocate for positive change in their parks. Because of the community input that goes into the visioning process, a vision plan reflects broad community consensus for the proposed improvements.
Our next public meeting will be on June 15.
Both concept plans include:
- Benches, swing benches, and picnic tables throughout park providing a variety of places to sit
- Learning Circle in woodland for community gatherings, freeplay in a natural setting, and a field trip location within walking distance of McLendon Elementary School
- Streambank stabilization + erosion control to protect and preserve the park’s natural character
- Restoration and enhancement of native habitat through invasive plant removal
- Planting new future canopy trees and care for young saplings to maintain forest canopy
- Upgrade/extend existing bridge to provide safer access and protect streambank/tree roots
- Improved access via an ADA-compliant parking space and turn-around area (surfaced with permeable paving) at base of Needham Drive
- Improved drainage and clearing of overgrowth on Needham Drive, to provide safe access & increased visibility
- New signs at McLendon and Needham Drive park entrances to improve awareness of the park
- Perimeter plantings to define park boundaries and provide privacy screening to adjacent properties
- Improve circulation throughout the park with ADA-compliant + permeable surfaces on trails in meadow and woodlands (there are a variety of surface options), plus soft-surface trails in steeper areas of woodland, and an additional smaller bridge near McLendon to create a loop trail around the park.
- Shift guardrail to street side of sidewalk on McLendon curve for safer pedestrian access and separation of pedestrians from traffic.
Concept 1:
Details of Concept 1 include:
- New entrance into park from McLendon, with ADA-compliant ramp, providing access to park, lower bridge, and picnic area in woodland
- Platform and boardwalk ramp over wet area at end of existing bridge, providing a gathering spot, seating and ADA-compliant path to McLendon Drive
- On-street parking spaces on Needham Drive
- Single soft-surface loop trail through woodland side of park
- Crosswalk at new entrance on McLendon, with rapid-flash beacons
- Erosion repair at McLendon stormwater outfall: divert outfall in pipe to downstream location, install energy dissipator and boulders; evaluate white oak during process
- Backfill current outfall erosion gully to allow for walking path to cross this area
Concept 2:
Details of Concept 2 include:
- New entrance into park from McLendon, with stairs, providing access to park, lower bridge, and picnic platform in woodland
- Permeable gathering area with ramp to existing bridge
- Provide an ADA-compliant path to additional gathering circle on north side of stream
- No on-street parking spaces on Needham Drive
- Primary and secondary soft-surface loop trails through woodland side of park
- Crosswalk on McLendon at Tanner, with rapid-flash beacons
- Erosion repair at McLendon stormwater outfall in current location, install energy dissipator and boulders; back-fill existing outfall erosion gully; evaluate white oak during process
Provide Feedback:
Review both concepts carefully and then give feedback through the survey below.
Survey will be accepting responses through Friday, May 24.
I vote for Concept 1 because I like the ADA ramps, parking on Needham, and especially the erosion repair. Good stuff!
Laura, thank you for your feedback! We have made adjustments based on the public feedback we’ve received and created a single Vision plan. We’ll be presenting the Vision plan for public review and comment on Saturday, June 15 from 11 am – 12pm, at the Corinth Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. Hope to see you there!
To me, it feels like Concept 2 keeps the park more natural, rather than more urban/suburban. No offence, but for a park this size, isn’t ONE ADA-accessible entrance enough? However, I feel that the parking on Needham Drive needs to be added to Concept 2. Once the park is upgraded, more people will come, and people will need to park their cars. People will wind up parking on Needham Drive, so it’s better to go ahead & provide them with parking spaces. Otherwise, people wil park in neighbors’ yards.
Agreed
Susan, thank you for your feedback! We’ve heard from community members that one of the reasons they don’t use the park is because access is difficult. ADA-accessible paths and entrances make the park available to everyone, not just those with mobility challenges, this includes residents who would like to enjoy the park with children in strollers or toddlers who haven’t fully mastered stairs. Our hope is that neighbors on all sides of the park will be able to enjoy the space equally. We also hear your concerns about making the park “over-pathed” and your desire to keep the park natural. You’re not alone in these concerns, so we have made changes to the plan to provide a much more natural entrance that still meets ADA standards.
The updated plan will be available for community review on June 15 (11am to 12pm), at the Fellowship Hall of Corinth Baptist Church on McLendon. I hope we’ll see you there!