news1@ulyssesnews.com
The future of Frazier Park was the topic of discussion at a town hall meeting Monday night at Bear Creek Coffee, the first of what city officials hope is many such community meetings. With the acquisition of more land for the park, and an initial desire to expand the golf clubhouse at the park, city administrator Luke Grimes asked the city council what ideas it had for the park, and the council said a town hall meeting would be a way to get the public’s input on what it wants to see at the park.
More than 50 people showed up to the meeting, with the entire city council, city secretary Sarah Britton, as well as parks department director Sherry Olson.
“We wanted some input from the community (to) give us some ideas, down the road, which way we want to go with that place,” said mayor Tim McCauley. “I think everybody enjoys it and I think there’s a lot of things we can do down there but we really want some community input.”
Grimes passed out a questionnaire with three questions, “What do you value or enjoy most about Frazier Park?” “What new features or changes would improve the park for you?” and “What concerns do you have?” He went down the list of questions and several in the crowd voiced their opinion.
“It’s the centerpiece of our community, well-loved, well-used,” Grimes said. “And we want to make sure that we’re being careful as we proceed.”
The city has a longterm vision for the park and wants to add to that vision based on what the community wants, to develop a 10-year master plan for the park. Grimes said the city already has some projects geared up to do, but, “Before we finalize the details, we want to know what the community is interested in having out there, long term,” he said.
Among the ideas for the current park and the new acreage include a Back-9 for the golf course, a new golf club house, and a band shell pavilion.
When asked what people most value about Frazier Park, responses ranged from the walking trails and golf course to the lake, disc golf, trees and playground. Many said it’s a great place for picnics, and the campground is a great amenity to have.
Among the new features that people would like to see, a kinetic art installation unique to Ulysses was suggested, and fiberglass artwork that reflects the theme of the town was suggested.
“Just things that people would pull over to take pictures of and kids could play around, just something visibly attractive,” one individual said.
Several people want to see the walking trail connecting Frazier Park with Barb Dye Park reestablished and cleaned up, and some would like to see the disc golf course expanded. Others said the restrooms need repaired and expanded, and more handicapped accessibility.
An idea floated was expanding the electricity to add a “Light Park” at Christmas, and one individual showed photos of Thompson Park in Guymon, Oklahoma., which does a large Christmas light display every year surrounding Sunset Lake, which is similar in size to the lake at Frazier Park.
“They do a pretty nice job and it’s much like our Frazier Park,” one man said. “That could be a fantastic draw at Christmastime.”
A restaurant at the golf course was suggested, but it was mentioned that the club house at Bentwood Golf Course does serve food, it’s just not advertised.
Grimes said the club house is what sparked the conversation about Frazier Park.
“We need to decide where to put it,” Grimes said. “We need to decide exactly what it’s going to look like. I agree very much with designing it in a way that makes it something of a visitor’s center, more than just a clubhouse, to be an amenity for the entire community in addition to the golf community.”
It was agreed that the golf course as it is now is nice. The course played host to the high school regional tournament this year, and the state tournament a few years ago. The course is also used for high school cross country meets.
“That’s a good thing for our community to see people coming back,” one man said.
“That’s why we’re doing this,” Grimes said. “Taking care of what we have and improving our community to be a more attractive place for people to live and to visit.”
One of the biggest concerns for any expansion of amenities is parking, which needs to be addressed.
One individual mentioned a Splash Pad, which was previously discussed when there was an increase on sales tax. Meade has a splash pad that people from Ulysses utilize.
“I think that needs to be revisited,” she said. “We were told that was one of the things we would get with that sales tax.”
Grimes also mentioned a soccer field could be added to the new land on the southwest side of the park. A soccer field was mentioned recently by representatives of the Tigres Club Soccer Club as a place to hold tournaments that draw teams and their families from across the region. The team has played games at the Grant County Recreation fields and in a field adjacent to Sullivan Elementary School and a field of their own would be ideal.
“We have the water infrastructure to do that,” Grimes said, adding that it would take the burden off the rec department. “I do think adding some soccer infrastructure given our demographic shifts would be fantastic.”
Grimes said two projects are already planned.
“Two things that are essentially set in stone as far as our plan for the park in the near future, number one is a band shell,” Grimes said. “The other thing is the clubhouse, to get a plan together and get the funding secured for that.”
Other ideas include mini golf, re-working the dam to include a road wide enough for a vehicle to pass, more camping spots, a skate park, and an area for Cornhole.
Council president Ken Warner said the input is good for both the council and the community.
“Now you realize all the things we’ve talked about this evening, there’s no room for all of that,” Warner said. “So our next step is going to be prioritizing things and start doing some planning. That’s why we’re here tonight is to hear from you so we can begin to prioritize what we hear tonight and then put it in the hands of somebody who’s probably better at planning than we are and how to fit it all in there, and then the next step for us is how does it fit in our city budget and where can we put it down the road because it won’t all happen next week, I guarantee it.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here