For more than 60 years, Kathleen Hunnicutt has lived near Westside Park in Seymour.
She has watched children play there, including her own kids and grandkids, and observed countless families meet under the shelter house for reunions.
But as time has passed, Hunnicutt said the park has been overshadowed by other city parks when it comes to upgrades and improvements.
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It’s attracting homeless people and illegal activity no one wants in their neighborhoods, she said. Hunnicutt often worries about the children who still play there.
That’s why she and a group of around 15 other neighbors on the city’s west side gathered there Thursday with city leaders to discuss the future of the park.
Organized by the Seymour Department of Parks and Recreation and facilitated by Administrative Resources association in Columbus, the public meeting was part of the ongoing process to update the city’s five-year parks master plan.
That plan sets the goals, priorities and action steps for the parks department through 2025 and makes the city eligible for state and federal grants to fund park projects and initiatives.
At least two more such meetings are being planned at other parks facilities, said Parks Director Stacy Findley.
With the shouts of children in the background, the group met under the small shelter house. Also in attendance were Mayor Matt Nicholson and members of the parks board and city council.
“This input session is designed to get your guys’ opinions and feedback and kind of your wish list of what you would like to see in the parks,” Findley said.
Located in the 900 block of West Jackson Street, Westside Park provides 4 acres of recreational green space in a densely populated area for individuals and families living in the west side neighborhood.
“This is a beautiful park,” Findley said. “I love it. It has so many trees. There’s a ton of green space, but on the flip side, it’s a very underdeveloped park. It has so much potential. This park is a blank canvas, and there are so many opportunities for growth.”
She said underdeveloped and most used parks will be top priorities in the plan.
Besides the small shelter house at Westside Park, there is a sandlot ball diamond, a few pieces of playground equipment and a basketball court.
“The playground is a little outdated, but I know that kids use it all the time,” Findley said.
Neighbors agreed some of the biggest detractors from enjoying the park are the lack of restrooms and limited access because there are no sidewalks or paths.
Findley said getting a restroom built for the park is one of her top priorities.
“I’d like to make that happen in 2021,” she said.
A lack of lighting and a need for more to do are other issues.
Parks board member Art Juergens said he thinks all of the parks, including Westside, need more shelter houses.
Findley said if the city decides to invest in the park and make improvements, she wants to incorporate ideas from the people who use it.
“I want these to be things you would like to see in your park, in your neighborhood,” she said. “It should be something you can be proud of and it’s something that you want versus something that I want or people at city hall want because what we want might not be the same thing as what people that live in the neighborhood want.”
Any improvements made should be a good use of the city’s time and money, she added.
Dekota Atha has family that lives near Westside Park, and when she visits them, her young children like to go to the park, but they don’t stay very long because there’s not a lot for them to do, she said.
She would like to see the city add a splash pad or a child’s play area with water features at the park.
“They are popular everywhere else,” she said. “I think they would be in Seymour, too.”
Tami Hammond said the ball diamond needs to be upgraded and better maintained and lights and bleachers added so younger kids have a place to play when the other fields are being used by leagues and travel teams.
Arriann Custer said she’s glad to see the park getting some attention.
“All the parks have been redone except this one,” she said.
Betsy Davidson, wife of city Councilman Seth Davidson, doesn’t live in the Westside Park neighborhood but said she would like to see more kid-friendly options available at all of the parks for their two young children.
“We go to other communities for about every park amenity,” she said. That includes Starve Hollow State Recreation Area in Vallonia, Freedom Field Playground at Blackwell Park in Columbus, the Brownstown Pool and the Muscatatuck Park in North Vernon.
Margaret Wilson said she grew up in the west side neighborhood, and every year, they have about 150 people show up for a reunion. Her concern is there are no sidewalks through the park to make it user-friendly for wheelchairs and strollers.
“We can’t have it here because we can’t get wheelchairs into the facility,” she said. “If we could get some concrete poured for sidewalks to the shelter house for the handicapped, that would help.”
Wilson said she also would like to see more programming for all ages brought back to the parks.
“We used to come down here once a week and we did crafts and loved it,” she said. “It got people to come into the parks more.”
Other neighbors suggested better playground equipment similar to Kasting Park, rubber matting around the playgrounds and also some playground features for children with special needs and for older children.
An improved basketball court and the addition of a volleyball court would help bring more people to the park, another neighbor added.
Bringing in a projector and a big screen for movies in the park also was suggested as a way to attract more park users.
Besides the public input sessions, residents also can express and share their ideas, suggestions and concerns through a survey.
More than 620 surveys have been completed so far, said Eric Frey, executive director of ARa.
“Your survey response has been amazing,” he said.
All of the information from the survey and public sessions will be combined in the final report that will will submitted to the state by April 15, 2021.
“We have to start making those goals in order to achieve them,” Findley said. “Right now, we don’t really have any goals, so we aren’t achieving.”
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Next upcoming community input session for Seymour Parks and Recreation Department
Where: Gaiser Park, Seymour
When: 5:30 p.m., July 23
Can’t make it? Fill out a public survey at surveymonkey.com/r/SeymourPark.
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