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Putnam County plans for the future of its parks

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By Jake Jarvis

WINFIELD — Scott Williamson felt like he was stuck in a boat with only one paddle. It didn’t matter how hard or how fast he paddled, he just drifted around in circles.

Now, for a little under $100,000, the executive director of Putnam County Parks and Recreation feels like he finally got that second paddle.

More than a year ago, the Putnam parks system began developing a comprehensive plan for every park the county owns and a master plan for Hurricane’s Valley Park, the “crown jewel” of the park system.

“I’ve been here for nine years,” Williamson said. “For nine years, I’ve wanted a strategic master plan to give me and the board some direction on where we need to go and what we need to do to best serve the people.”

Instead of just working on smaller projects without a vision for the future, Williamson thinks he’ll now be able to look at this plan and take small steps with his staff to a larger goal.

At a parks board meeting last week, Charleston-based GAI Consultants Inc. unveiled the plan after working on it for more than 14 months.

Tuesday morning, Putnam County commissioners praised the plan for its ability to serve the public and generate revenue.

“Everyone’s really pleased with the master plan,” said County Commissioner Joe Haynes, who also serves on the parks board. “A lot of us may never see it completed, but we’re happy for the direction of it.”

Depending on financing, the plan could take 10 to 15 years to complete. Dave Gilmore, director of landscape architecture at GAI Consulting, said the final report will breakdown the plan into a series of manageable phases.

How much will updating Valley Park cost? Gilmore said it could be tens of millions of dollars, but that’s just a ballpark estimate.

Among other things, the plan found that Putnam County should add three full baseball fields, five youth baseball or softball fields, two basketball courts, two recreation centers, 10 small-size soccer or lacrosse fields and six tennis courts to match what other counties of the same size already have.

Some of those fields would be added to Valley Park, while the rest might be built at different parks.

The Valley Park plan, developers said, would increase connectivity throughout the park, create a centralized area and could eventually be a source of revenue for the county.

Depending on funding and interest from the park board, though, the future of Valley Park might end up different from the plans. For now, the pool area will be updated and might include a “lazy river” water ride.

Williamson and Haynes’ favorite part? The community center.

“This park was designed and put into place nearly 30 years ago,” Williamson said. “Things change. Our population has absolutely skyrocketed in that amount of time.”

Right now, a parking lot sits at the center of Valley Park. A new community center would have unlimited potential, Gilmore said, and would be nicer to look at than an asphalt lot. It could hold banquets, house new American With Disabilities Act-compliant locker rooms, sell concessions and host homecoming and prom celebrations for local schools.

Parks board members asked how large the center would be, but Gilmore said at last week’s meeting that the size hadn’t been determined and an architect would have to be hired to draft additional plans.

“It can be as big or as small as you want it to be,” he said. If the parks board wants a bigger center, it could sacrifice some of the surrounding green space. The center would sit next to Waves of Fun and the existing baseball fields.

Right now, Williamson said, the plan is just a reference document. He said he expects the board to vote to adopt the plan at its next meeting and then, he can start working toward the goals.

A large part of the 14-month process, Gilmore said, was trying to figure out what the public wants from the county parks. In addition to in-person community meetings, GAI Consulting conducted online surveys, which received more than 600 responses. The goal was simple: Find out what the public wants from its county parks.

Nearly 90 percent of survey respondents said they live within a 30-minute drive of a county park and 60 percent of respondents said providing more facilities in the parks is the most or second-most important priority for the county.

Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazette.com, 304-348-7905 or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.


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