Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks Projects topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parks staff report near-complete projects, tree plantings and upcoming events
Summary
Parks staff reported most projects from the recent park tour are complete pending safety surfacing, about 50–60 street trees remain to be planted, a new Court Hill Park shelter and relocated playground are in place, and multiple fall events (including Indigenous Peoples Day and Halloween activities) are scheduled.
Parks staff updated the Iowa City Parks & Recreation Commission on ongoing projects and upcoming events on Oct. 8.
Tyler reported that the projects seen during the recent parks tour are mostly complete, with crews waiting on additional safety surfacing (mulch) at some playground locations and coordinating with contractors to finish work. He said about 50–60 street trees remain to be planted, and described a partnership planting of 30 trees with Big Grove, Trees Forever and local Rotary members.
Staff installed a small shelter and basketball hoops at Court Hill Park and relocated the playground formerly adjacent to City Park Pool to Lower City Park, west of the baseball fields, to keep the amenity in circulation. Tyler said crews are also improving access at Hickory Hill Park with a new bridge funded through a REAP grant; the new structure will be wider to allow emergency and maintenance side-by-side access and will shift a trail alignment roughly 50 yards north to avoid erosion-prone zones.
Brad added event updates: the Get Outside rec festival had good turnout and partner groups, an upcoming Indigenous Peoples Day celebration will include music, dancing and crafts at Terry Trueblood Recreational Area, and Halloween events (a Sensory Scare Fair, Halloween carnival and floating pumpkin patch) are planned for October, with the carnival drawing about 1,200 people in prior years.
Staff said they would share a tentative Indigenous Peoples Day itinerary with commissioners on request.
The commission thanked staff and volunteers for their work on tree plantings, field use adjustments, and other park improvements.
