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Parks staff report capital projects, festival attendance and schedule master plan presentation to council
Summary
Parks staff told the board on July 15 that the department will present the master plan to the Common Council on July 28 and reported progress on capital projects and summer events.
Parks & Recreation staff updated the board on capital projects, summer programming and department operations on July 15 and said the city master plan will be presented to the Common Council for adoption later this month.
Matthew Moyers, special projects for Elkhart Parks and Recreation, said staff will present the master plan to the Common Council and “are asking them to adopt a resolution for the master plan,” with a target date of July 28. Moyers said, if adopted, the department will shift focus toward capital projects and park development and then return to manuals and procedure documents.
Parks staff reported several capital projects in progress: updated basketball courts at Lango Park and Gans Park; new playgrounds planned at Gans Park and SoMA Gardens with construction expected to begin in the next couple of weeks; Walker Park bathrooms nearing completion; and resurfacing of the High Dive pathway expected soon. Staff also said slides at Ideal Beach remain offline because the cost to repair cracks in the pool was significant and the department chose not to expend smaller repairs pending a larger pool plan.
Staff gave attendance and program statistics: the farmers market averages about 50 vendors and about 1,500 attendees per market; the Rhapsody Music and Arts Festival had total attendance of over 16,000 across two days (nearly 5,000 on Friday and just under 12,000 on Saturday). Staff said summer programs—including camp sites and swim lessons—are seeing good registration numbers and higher concession revenues at Ideal Beach despite the slide closure.
Volunteer and program reports noted 27 volunteers gave 120 hours to Rap City with a calculated financial impact of $4,018.80 in volunteer labor for that event; camp connections reported 96 registered participants at Studebaker, 155 at Willowdale and 232 at McNaughton (counts reflect registration by site/week and may include repeat participants across weeks).
Staff also thanked event volunteers and partners, noted the departure of an employee (Nick Kron), and asked the public to participate in a program survey in English and Spanish.
No formal board action was taken on these operational updates, though Moyers said staff will return with implementation details after the council considers the master plan.
