Baranof Park is a highly programmed recreation facility many community members use, from organized sports to spontaneous playground visits. As such, the park is a highly valued amenity for the community with "something for everyone." The removal of the Lion Lee Memorial Playground, current work on the rink, and the proposed work for the fire station have created the need for a community discussion about Kodiak parks, with a necessary emphasis on Baranof Park and its near-term needs.
The Parks and Recreation Department, with guidance from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, will develop a City of Kodiak Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The purpose of such a plan is to guide the maintenance, improvement, and expansion of Kodiak parks and recreation facilities to ensure that existing, new, and future investments are optimized. (for general information on the benefits of a master plan, see the blog post Why a Master Plan.)
A review of Kodiak's existing parks and recreation infrastructure, in combination with a needs assessment, will assist in developing a community vision for the next 20 years of recreation in Kodiak. This may include renovation and repairs, facility relocations, and new facilities. The goal is to ensure that opportunities for improvement result in the right facilities in the best locations for community users to access them conveniently.
As communities develop and grow, it's important to ensure that community members have equitable access to parks and recreation facilities. Park systems typically have at least two kinds of parks: neighborhood and community. (See the blog post Park Classifications for general information on park types)
A Community Park will have unique offerings that all in the community may wish to use or enable larger gatherings or events. These facilities will often be provided with significant parking, opportunities for passenger drop-off, and efficient access and vehicle circulation. The extent of these vehicle-related improvements depends on the community, the desire for convenience, the availability of land, and the ability of adjacent areas to provide access and parking capacity. To adequately accommodate parking, each recreation component within a community park should be assessed for parking demands. For example, sports fields need to accommodate parking based on changeovers (when teams are leaving the field for new teams to come on), and playgrounds need to accommodate an expectation for the number of parents or caregivers bringing their children to play. Different types of use may have different peak use times, so every potential park user is rarely provided with a parking space. There will be times when parking may be less convenient due to facility use, but these should not be the norm.
Neighborhood Parks provide duplicate amenities (such as play areas) to make them convenient to locals and may sometimes have an amenity that draws from a wider area (dog park or ballfield). The goal is that everyone is within reasonable (and safe) walking distance of a neighborhood park. Neighborhood parks often focus on young families, supporting various types of play. Parking is normally de-emphasized for these parks, except to provide accessible parking and to enable more convenient family access.
Beyond parks and their locations, master planning examines a community to see if existing facilities are meeting recreation needs. Whether population growth, changes in the popularity of recreation types, or a desire to introduce new recreation types, gauging the wants and needs of a community is important. Then it's a matter of establishing whether any given activity is distributed within the community (neighborhood parks), or centralized (community parks).
