By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
The city of Florence wants help from all residents to show city officials what they want in their parks.
Kentaboo Park off Kentaboo Road. (Photo provided)
There is a quick online survey at cofparksmp.mysocialpinpoint.com where anyone in Florence can give their input on exactly what they think about the existing city parks, and what they would like to see in the parks they use all the time.
“The community input survey is the first engagement activity of many for the city of Florence Parks Master Plan, and effort to develop a master plan for six city of Florence parks that will serve as a guide for future improvements that residents will enjoy for years to come,” said Eric Hall, Public Services Director. “The survey actually went live on January 2 and will go until the end of this month.”
The parks in question are Kentaboo Park, Lincoln Woods Park, Orleans Park, South Fork Park, Stringtown Park, and Skate Park.
The city wants to analyze existing conditions at each park, trying to figure out what elements in each park is being used and which elements are rarely if ever used.
Stringtown Park on Ky 18 (Photo provided)
“The survey and this whole process is to evaluate what’s working and what’s not,” Hall explained. “We are not going to go into parks and demo playgrounds that we know already get a lot of use. So it is to look at where we have gaps where do we have space for improvement.”
He talked about room for baseball fields.
“The example, I gave Lesley (councilmember Chambers) when we talked over the phone, was the cornhole stations at Stringtown Park. Rarely do we see anybody utilize those. So there may be an opportunity where we remove that feature and put something there that’s going to get more use. Maybe not. We’ll see how the community communicates that.”
Two companies will be helping with the survey as well as the development of concept plans, renderings and cost estimates for the improvements, KZF design, and Human Nature Inc.
Residents are asked to complete the online survey by January 31, although Hall said there is a possibility of extending the survey by a week or so to make sure everyone gets a chance to respond.
Disc Golf at South Fork Park (Photo provided)
“We’re also going to do an open house at the end of the month, on January 31, from 6 to 8 p.m.,” Hall said. “Thats going to be at the Nature Park event center, so people can come, they can also do the survey while they are there but also engage with staff, if they would like to approach it that way. The other thing about the survey, if you do take it and leave your email address as you fill it out you can receive important updates throughout the process.”
There will be an interactive map and an ideas wall on the website, which will contain progress in the initial concepts, as well as draft plans when the city gets to that point.
The survey has 19 questions, most of them multiple choice, but the ones that aren’t multiple choice will have places where people can write in comments. Questions will ask for zip codes to determine where people are, what parks they go to, ages of children they take to the parks, how often, which parks they visit the most, and what makes Florence parks special. They also ask what people like about parks in other cities, how they feel about bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, what they think might be missing in Florence parks, and how the ADA requirements are being met. Other questions will be about program planning, and possible concerts.
“You can fill in the survey and make sure your voice is heard,” Hall stated. “Keep in mind, this is a process. We don’t look to have the master plan completed until September.”
