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| Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board architect Deborah Bartels presents a bird’s eye view of the proposed playground and wading pool. After hearing from residents in July that they wanted the playground design to be less structured and more informal, Bartels worked on a redesign that would provide those qualities. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen) |
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| Construction continues on Keewaydin School. A fence near the Rec Center keeps people out of the construction site. Work will be complete in time for the start of the 2013-14 school year. The wading pool and playground equipment currently in place will remain there for about five years to give the park board time to create a new playground on the southeast corner of their property. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen) |
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| This draft of the Keewaydin Park Master Plan will be presented to the park board during a public hearing on Nov. 7. The highlight of the plan is a water element between the pre-K and K-12 play structures. It will include a sandbox, pump, dry stream bed with boulders and various concrete walls that will also serve as benches. |
New master plan
incorporates net structure and natural color palate
by Tesha M. Christensen
Keewaydin parents want a playground that is challenging and
has a high play value. Next door neighbors want one with a calming view.
The Rec Plus Kids showed the parks department how to merge
the two.
According to Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board Manager
of Public Engagement and Citywide Planning Jennifer Ringold, when the Rec Plus
Kids voted on what they want to see in a playground, the majority favored a
nature play area over either the classic post and deck or one with all nets (20
to 4).
“We’re really thankful for the kids because I think they
showed us the way in how to merge the concepts,” stated Ringold during a
community meeting held on Sept. 25, 2012.
When the parks department requests playground manufacturers
to submit proposals for Keewaydin Park, they will be told there is a preference
for an Evos/net structure with a color palate that mimics nature and uses
browns, greens and blues.
DETAILS AND COST
The September
meeting was the fourth one held this year to update the Keewaydin Park Master
Plan. Driving the effort is the $16 million expansion of Keewaydin School that
will eventually displace the existing playground and wading pool. While a
section of the playground has already been removed, the majority of the
equipment will remain for five more years in the existing location, which gives
the Minneapolis Parks Department time to find funding to move the playground
and pool from the west side of the parks building to the east side.
At the July meeting, residents expressed their support for
the location on the east side of the parks building, but wanted the playground design
to be more informal, noted Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board architect
Deborah Bartels.
The revised plan has a smaller footprint, “but the play value
is the same,” said Ringold.
It places the K-12 structure with swings closest to 31st Ave.
on the south side. In between it and the pre-k structure is a water element
shaded by a pergola. In this area will be a sandbox, pump, dry stream bed with
boulders, and various concrete walls that will also serve as benches. Three
spinners and six swings from the old playground will be reused. The new play
equipment will cost $233,550.
The wading pool nearby will have a spray feature. There will
be numerous benches around it, and park staff members are researching what the
best sort of shade structure will be. The cost of the wading pool is $404,500.
Since the last meeting, park staff did learn that they do not
need to include bathrooms in the pool equipment building. Instead, the
bathrooms in the main park building will be remolded to be accessible from
outside and to be ADA accessible. It will cost about $25,000 to renovate the
existing rec center bathrooms.
The parks department will also spend about $41,000 to
relocate utilities.
Five additional trees will be planted around the playground,
and the existing trees will be preserved.
An ornamental fence will be installed around the perimeter of
the playground and the pool as the city requires anything within 100 feet of a
street to be fenced. The space near the fence will be left clear of vegetation
so that the sight line into the area is clear. “We like to keep the view into
parks pretty open to reduce vandalism,” stated Bartels.
The total cost of the project is $992,422. That doesn’t
include the cost of renovating the playing fields, which will range from $170,000
to $275,000.
Construction will be phased so that the existing playground
and wading pool remain in use until the new ones are ready. Keewaydin parent
and school construction steering committee member Matt Lee pointed out the
school changed its plans in order to accommodate the playground and pool.
Before anything is built, the city needs to identify funding
for the project.
COMMUNITY COMMENTS
Neighborhood resident Cheryl Luger stated, “I love the pool
and pergola. It looks very well designed.”
In response to a question from the audience, Ringold noted
that the parks department conducted a parking analysis earlier this year. The
conclusion was that there is adequate on-street parking to meet the needs of
the playground, pool and athletic fields.
The primary entrance into the playground/pool area will be on
the northwest side to encourage patrons to park away from the corner of 53rd
St. and 31st Ave.
Park staff re-visted the rational behind removing two ball
fields and creating two soccer fields in their place. Bartels explained that it
is difficult to play soccer in the ag lime of a ball field. When local sports
groups were surveyed, they stated that the need was for soccer fields, not ball
fields.
WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP?
The draft of the master plan
will be viewed by the park board at a public hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 7.
Residents will be given one to three minutes to speak. Then the park board will
consider approving it. Once approved, the parks department will begin to
identify funding for the work.
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