Running list of parks ideas (Please click here to view ideas and make your own suggestions)
1. Soccer program
2. Baseball program
3. Skate park
4. Community gardens (vegetable)
37 Comments to “Running list of parks ideas (Please click here to view ideas and make your own suggestions)”
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Several parks that have recycling centers (like Hobgood Park in Cherokee County). The Cherokee County park recycling center benefits the park. It was better a year and a half ago – everything was divided (paper, plastic, glass) but now they have just a drop off site for all recyclables mixed. I would much prefer recycling in my own county to benefit my county’s parks but as of right now that option is unavailable. There should be at least 2 places – East Cobb and West Cobb.
Ms/r. Ansely Nichols- I recycle items and weekly bring them to the Recycling Facility on County Services Pkwy past the DMV. I bring the plastic baggies and styrofoam to Publix. You may also contact Keep Marietta Beautiful (770) 764-5606 or Keep Cobb Beautiful (770) 431-2863 for other recycling locations. (www.georgiarecycles.org) My parents live by Hobgood Park in Woodstock and you are right it, items use to be divided there. I can’t see spending a lot of work separating recyclable items at home to only mix them up, so I don’t ever drop items off there anymore when it was convenient. That machine should be gone. I met the man that that machine replaced. I would like to have St. Augustine Place Condominium’s have recycling as carrying lots of recyclable items in my car gets really smelly and dirty. Having recyclable facilities at parks does send a good message and one can stop off there more frequently if it is by their home. I work hard to recycle and it only makes sense to have a more public display of it and in a park is a symbol of why it should be done! Keep in mind that at Hobgood Park, they do have big fences around it and lock it up at night and someone had manned it before the big compactor machine came.
One possible new Parks and Recreation Bond project to consider may be the establishment of Community Garden opportunities near Marietta neighborhoods that support the idea. Community gardens are a well-established medium for pulling neighbors and even families together on a common project that can offer outdoor enjoyment, exercise, healthy eating, environmental education opportunities, etc. The City of Marietta has many parcels of public land that are too small for traditional development use but may be appropriate for a small, multi-plot garden to serve a local community. Some of our current parks have considerable space that is currently unused and may be well suited for the establishment of larger gardens. Birney Park on Birney Street is an example of a park on a creek that has maybe half of its land undeveloped. The old Lyman Homes public housing project has acres of cleared land that seem unlikely to be developed for several years. Perhaps these Marietta departments could cooperate on a larger community garden on that site with the understanding that it may likely have to be given over to development at a later time. (The public infrastructure needed for a community garden is slight but the individual plot holder may have more difficulty giving up his sweat equity and soil nourishment efforts after that interim!)
You can see a partial list of established community gardens in Georgia at http://www.georgiaorganics.org/organic_directory/index.php?category=comgarden&submit=Go&start=1 and that website offers links to a number of the gardens if you would like to learn more about how other local communities are approaching similar projects. According to the Atlanta Food Bank’s website, there are 150 community gardens in the City of Atlanta.
Colorado Springs, CO has the Old Farm Community Garden which has an impressive website that includes a list of their operating rules. Exploring that site will give a reader an overview of some of the social and procedural issues that may be involved in starting a project that requires community cooperation to produce a viable product: http://oldfarmgardens.com/home. Another Colorado website has a more comprehensive guide to issues involved in community gardening: http://www.growinggardens.org/english/programs/communitygardens/index.html.
It’s absurd to even consider leasing a public park to a private group for 20 years for mere pennies & allowing them to charge the public for it’s use. Where in the city of Marietta could we rent or purchase 7 acres of land for that amount of money. I hope that 25,000.000 Parks Bond is spent wiser. City legal staff should not be suggesting ways to circumvent the law.
Skateboarders frequently abuse public property in their search for places to practice their sport. Marietta and Cobb have posted signs excluding them from the courthouse complex and from the Marietta Square among other places. The Parks and Recreation bond may be an appropriate fund from which to build some legitimate opportunities for skaters. The City of Kennesaw has a new park in development. The building of the park has not been a smooth process but the people using the park seemed delighted with the interim resource when I visited the site on December 10, 2010. During that visit there were a dozen people using the park even though the temperature was below freezing. Interestingly, the group was ethnically and racially diverse.
There are a vast variety of designs for parks, from regional parks that serve huge metropolitan populations and may cost millions of dollars to small neighborhood parks that might be built for less than $10,000. Though they are just one of many purveyors of skateboard resources, Pillar Design Services has in informative web site that may provide you some information on different solutions to our community’s total lack of public skateboard resources.
I agree that a skateboard park would be a good idea. I’ve always felt that the property at Church, Cherokee and the North Loop would be an ideal location. There is a large, level parking area that is seldom used. It would not disturb adjoining residences. It is an urban area with nearby urban amenities. It is highly visible to constant passersby and Cobb police HQ, minimizing the opportunity for illegal activities.
I would expand the Hickory Hills park by purchasing the adjacent property across Chestnut Hill. Playgrounds, picnic tables, benches, jogging path, landscaped plantings in through the woods would make a nice addition to the existing park. The property I’m talking about is the old Rite Aid location and the vacant residential property that surrounds it. This would result in a very large park for the city of Marietta close to a significant population base as noted in the master park plan.
The existing park could remain as a large field for soccer / football / ultimate frisbee for youth and adult play. I would add a basketball court where the old tennis courts are located for all ages to this area and expand the parking.
Hickory Hills Park improvements. Every effort should be made to enhance the walking trail experience here. Walking is the primary activity of nearby residents. If the community agrees to include any organized sports activity facilities, they should be well separated from walking and playground areas. Any playground facilities should be positioned away from the Chestnut Hills frontage so that passing traffic will view the park as greenspace rather than merely a huge playground.
Glover Park improvements. Since a primary draw for our historic square are the live events, I would suggest improvements to the stage and sound system. The stage would benefit from having backstage access via a break in the fence and a ramp leading to North Park St. This would create a better backstage / dressing room-tent or staging area and also accommodate handicapped performers.
A better, integrated “house sound” system would create a more pleasant experience for visitors and reduce the need for trucking-in and stacking large systems. Part of the expense could be recouped from “renting” the system to performers (or eliminating their costs for bringing in systems of their own.) This would also make it possible for civic groups to use the sound system.
Hugh and Sandy white are interested in improving Hickory Hills Park, as we are residents of Whitlock Heights. We feel improvement to the walking/jogging trail, the addition of a pavilion, picnic tables, grill and seating areas would certainly add to the park’s appeal. A small playground located at the back of the park and the addition of a maintained restroom would also make the park inviting to our community.
I think that having a skatepark built in marietta is a phenominal idea. i think that the sktaers of marietta would prefer several smaller, easy to access parks as opposed to a large park.
Many members of our community rely on the Hickory Hills Park as a safe area to walk. The city should support these efforts by enhancing the track and adding trails if additional land is purchased. I agree with Mr Hamilton that any organized sports activities should be well separated from the walking and playground areas.
As someone new to Marietta City I was wondering what type of adult athletic leagues are offered by the city? I know Cobb County has several but in my experience are usually poorly run and take place on less than desirable fields with little to no drainage which ruins the fields and causes tons of rainouts. If Marietta were to offer better options I think they would get a great response. I would love to see some of this money spent on building quality fields for activites such as flag football, soccer, softball, kickball etc… for both children and adults. An ideal situation would be for a couple of field turf fields like many of the high schools are going to now. Initial installment would obviously be more expensive but it would great, if not totally, eliminate the cost of maintenance and greatly improve the experience for participants. I’ve played in several leagues around the metro area and know there is a lot of interest in this type of service.
http://www.mariettaga.gov/departments/parks_rec/athletics.aspx
I am not a city employee but I think you will find some answers to your question about organized sports at the Marietta City link above. Parks renovation and the creation of additional resources are very much in play with this bond money so I hope you will continue to feed ideas to this website so the people who are working on those issues can hear your ideas.
Re: Lewis Park – Over the years many people who frequent the dog park at Lewis Park have mentioned it would be nice to have some shade in the dog park during the summer. Recently some type of shade structure or pavilion was recommended. This would basically do the trick, but some nice shade trees might be a nice and potentially cheaper option. If there’s concern of excessive “doggy watering” maybe a temporary fence could keep the four leggers away until young trees root. Maybe the Tree Keepers could even lend a hand or suggest the proper tree variety?
Things I would love to see:
1.) new basketball facility
2.) a gym with weight lifting and cardio machines
3.) maintained athletic fields for adult sports leagues
The pending master plan envisions two full size basketball courts at EPRC.
I have heard comments that a gym with cardio equipment would conflict directly with private providers, some of whom are taxpaying businesses.
Custer Park has the area necessary for play fields but has just been transferred back to Marietta from Cobb County and its condition is less than well-maintained. There are other potential areas for baseball, soccer, etc. and I hope citizens will weigh in on their suggestions of where those sports fields would be most welcome, most affordable, most easily maintained, etc.
I don’t know the feasibility of it, but there is a large field at Laurel Park (on the left when you first drive in) where they could easily build a nice field turf flag football field in a great location.
The field at Laurel Park does seem to be under utilized. I would love to see it converted into usable athletic fields for flag football, soccer, etc. Great idea.
It’s great to see so many comments and suggestions being posted here and I assure you that Parks Committee members are reading them. Hopefully, more people will use the reply feature and comment on suggestions so we can explore different facets of suggestions.
I would like to see at EPRC: (editors note Elizabeth Porter Recreation Center)
1. full expansion to the North Loop,
2. to include a racquetball court(s),
3. an indoor walking/jogging court,
4. a climbing wall for children if feasible.
Thanks
Public Comments and Proposals – EPRC
Senior activities need to be addressed. A series of walking areas was mentioned. In addition, areas within the Center useful to seniors would be important, particularly for use during the day, when children are at school. (Mr. Buss noted that senior activities are primarily the responsibility of Cobb County, although the Marietta Housing Authority has recently started to be involved in this area.)
Activities for home schoolers should also be included, as they are currently overlooked in terms of group activities outside the home.
Racquetball courts should be included.
A skateboard park should be included. Liability issues were raised and Mr. Buss indicated that due to the Recreational Immunity Law, liability issues are usually not relevant in public parks. In addition, he noted that skateboarding has a substantially lower risk of injuries than does soccer. Mr. Morris observed that many skateboard deaths and most serious injuries occur during skater-motor vehicle collisions which should be lessened if people had a skate park site instead of using streets and sidewalks.
“Green” building practices and sustainability need to be incorporated by the City.
A stage/theatre area suitable for plays, music and the arts should be part of the Center.
Rather than have single dedicated spaces within the Center, the plan should emphasize multi-purpose spaces.
At least one resident felt strongly that the Lawrence Street pool should be repaired.
Public Comments and Proposals – Birney Park
A community garden might be located there.
Play equipment, such as swings, slides, sandbox, etc. should be added.
The site lends itself well to use as an amphitheatre.
A bridge needs to be built to allow full use of the site.
Cobb County Water Department might be interested in helping the neighborhood start an Adopt-a-Stream program there.
I would love to see the walking track updated at the Hickory Hills Park. It has several areas that retain substantial water when it rains and remain underwater for several days. An addition of distance markers would also be helpful. Updating the Basketball courts and a total make over of the sad little playground would really be utilized by the community.
I would like to encourage areas for walking, bicycling and skate-boarding and other sports. Thanks.
[...] To make suggestions on how the space should be used, visit the Citizen’s Advisory for Marietta Parks blog. [...]
The request is for the City of Marietta to leave one tennis court, since some in the area use it during the spring and summer especially. The idea of senior exercise equipment would be good for the seniors.
Thanks a lot.
I think the city should consider a community swimming pool. I understand the cost ramifications, but other local municipalities, such as Roswell and Alpharetta have successful outoor pools. A sprayground addresses the needs of small children, but not those of swimming age. Currently, my school age children have no place to swim in the summer.
I bought a home last summer here in Marietta and have since been wondering about this big empty area that includes a big field area and a huge wooded area that is located behind our neighborhood. I got online to figure it out and realized that it is actually zoned a park, Kennesaw Village Park to be exact. In my fiance and I exploring it we noticed where signs used to be for the park and trails that used to exist. There are an extensive amount of children in this area (between our neighborhood, all the other neighborhoods that also dead end into it, and an apartment complex) and they could really benefit from a safe area to play in.
I am wondering what our neighborhoods can do as a community to actually make good use of this park. I have spoke to several of my neighbors and they are also interested, seeing as they all have children.
What can we do to fix up this area and get it usable?
What can the parks and recreation department do to help us?
Could you please provide the exact address of the property you mention? Does it appear on Google maps as adjacent to I-75 (to the west) between Allgood Road and North Marietta Parkway? Is so, that is privately owned land.
the city of marietta does not have any sort of place were a skateboarder can legaly skateboard most citys and towns in america have at least 1 if not more public skateparks a public skatepark would be a good idea for marietta
I think that a public skatepark would be a great addition to the city of Marietta.
First of all marieatta has a great amount of skateboarders and there is absolutely no sort of skatepark in the entire city. There are a lot of neighborhood and community parks within the city that both have the space needed for a public skatepark and could benefit from the added numbers of people the skatepark would attract. I think that if the city held fundraiesers to raise money for the construction of a fundraiser they would be surprised to see how many people would be willing to pitch in what they could for this cause
I agree about the attraction of a legal skateboarding opportunity for Marietta. The concept was included in a list of suggestions published by the Recreation Center Sub-Committee of CACMP for the new Marietta Recreation Center which is a concept included in the Parks Bond funding. Whether the suggestion is adopted is still in discussion.
Can you please install Bike Racks at key locations in Marietta? For example in Decatur they have a Master Bicycle Plan and they have installed bike racks at all city parks, libraries, schools, offices, etc. Can we get bike racks installed around the Square?
Here’s Decatur’s plan information and their ordinance for bicycle racks:
http://tinyurl.com/pukcm2
Thanks,
Joe Seconder
President, Bike Cobb
http://www.BikeCobb.org
Hello,
I am a skateboarder who lives in Marietta. My friends and I are constantly on the lookout for good places to skate at. We recently were trying to have some fun around the Marietta square. Apparently many people were not very fond of this idea. It is very understandable and I think it would make everyone’s life a bit easier if you were to construct a skatepark in Marietta. The amount of skateboarders in Marietta is incredibly large. People get very frustrated with where we choose to skate. Everyone would have a place to go if you were to build this park.
Thank you for your consideration.
A skateboard park would do much good for the city of Marietta. Many skateboarder’s have a hard time finding a place to skate where they do not bother any people, and can have a good time. The addition of a skatepark to our fine city will provide a safe place for the skateboarder’s of our area to use.
I live in Charlton Forge and along with a number of other adults from the surrounding neighborhoods I walk at Hickory Hills park several days a week. It is my observation that this park is primarily used by adults for walking, soccer, flag football and the like. Although, if the playground equipment were to be upgraded it might attract more of the younger folk.
I would like to see the following work done at Hickory Hills Park:
1. Repave the walking track to get rid of the cracks and the “bumps” over the tree roots.
2. Do something about the drainage at the track infield so that the western leg of the walking track is not under water for several days after a rain.
3. Mark the track in 1/4 mile increments so that you can tell how far you have walked. (When the park belonged to the school system the track was marked in 1-mile increments.)
3. Repave the parking lot, it is in very poor condition.
4. and… as I mentioned above, upgrade the playground equipment.
5. Install a few light around the walking track so it could be better used after dark. I DO NOT ADVOCATE LIGHTING THE ENTIRE PARK FOR NIGHT TIME BALLGAMES, ETC.
Purchase the property at the intersection of Reynolds and Powder Springs St. This lot is the perfect location for a “grand” entrance into the city from the loop. In addition, this property forms a contiguous link to the Wright St park and charter school. How wonderful to be able to connect these spaces and enhance their potential value as green space. Many old trees could be saved and the shade and bird habitat would be a draw for our citizens. The neighborhood is comprised of a wide variety of agesm many of whom are walkers, each of which could find something to bring them to the park on a daily basis. And the more participation we have in our parks, the safer they will be. So many of us in the neighborhood would be in favor of preserving this green space. I hope the City can be proactive in saving it.