Commissioners prioritize features for Wedge Preserve Park; ninja course ranks first
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Summary
At the Feb. 19 workshop staff presented final design documents for the Wedge Preserve Park and commissioners ranked additional amenities. The commission prioritized a ninja course and tower, followed by a tie between a splash pad and covered pickleball courts.
City of Parkland staff presented percent-complete construction documents for the Wedge Preserve Park during the Feb. 19 commission workshop and asked commissioners to rank optional amenities so staff can prioritize additions during guaranteed-maximum-price (GMP) negotiations.
Christine (staff) said the park's original construction budget was $32,000,000 and that the current phase was focused on final cost and GMP negotiations. "As you may recall, the original construction cost for this park was budgeted at $32,000,000," Christine said as she reviewed the site plan and optional elements.
The park design includes a nature preserve, a playground and a nine-building "mini play village," a community building, a splash pad, an elevated ninja course with a two-story observation tower, a bank-shot basketball/play court, pickleball courts, basketball courts and multiple multipurpose fields. Staff described the ninja course as a 10-station custom fitness course with a spiral elevated platform and a two-story tower; the splash pad area is about 1,500 square feet; the community building is roughly 4,400 square feet; the pickleball area contains eight courts and the basketball area is shown as four courts.
Commissioners discussed trade-offs including covering options for courts (hard metal canopy vs. soft fabric shade), whether to use artificial turf on multipurpose fields and whether to include the bank-shot court. Several commissioners suggested allocating covers to other existing parks if usage patterns and leagues would benefit more from covered courts there.
Christine asked commissioners to rank the additional elements. The commission's prioritized list (lowest number = highest priority) recorded by staff is:
1) Ninja course and tower 2) Tie between splash pad and pickleball covers (commissioner preference recorded for a hard cover) 3) Mini play village 4) Tie between basketball covers (preference recorded for soft covers) and upgrading multipurpose fields to artificial turf 5) Bank-shot play court
Staff noted the park remains an "unprogrammed" park (available for general public use rather than exclusively for league programming), and commissioners discussed possible implications for maintenance and use patterns. Christine said some playground elements are required components of the grant that helped fund the park.
Commissioners asked staff to: (1) include the ranked priorities and estimated costs in the April strategic-planning packet, (2) explore whether covering the ninja course is feasible without a costly redesign, and (3) examine options to locate covered basketball courts at Pine Trails Park if that would better serve league use.
No formal vote was taken; staff recorded the commissioners' consensus ranking and directed that the ranked list be used during GMP negotiations and when staff prepares final budget options for the April session.
