Public asked to check out concepts for Hope Davey, Ice Center parks
March 1, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti The committee and consultants working on ideas for improving two key recreation areas in Waterbury are ready to share their proposals with the community at a special meeting Thursday evening.
The Concept Plan Community Meeting for the Parks Study begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Steele Community Room at the municipal offices and will also be available online via Zoom. A link for the latter is on the meeting agenda.
Beyond the playground and playing fields, disc golf is a popular activity at Hope Davey Park in Waterbury Center. File photo by Gordon Miller
The presentation will review concept plans drafted for Hope Davey Park in Waterbury Center and the Ice Center Area Park in downtown Waterbury. The meeting will be an opportunity for the public to see the plans, ask questions, and offer comments.
One aim of this project is to ensure that future plans for the two areas align with community values, according to the committee.
Draft concept plans are posted on the town website in the Zoning and Planning Department section where all of the background for the project over the past year is collected.
The project to do future planning for the two areas started over a year ago and voters on Town Meeting Day in 2022 approved allocating $50,000 to hire a consultant to create master plans for the two parks. The SE Group based in Burlington was hired by last summer and a steering committee was formed with members representing the various “stakeholder” groups—organizations with an interest in the future development and improvements at the parks. Their goal was to create plans that cover multi-use recreation and natural resource management.
Summertime Wheels Around Waterbury bike campers ride near the Ice Center. File photo by Gordon Miller
Issues to address at Hope Davey Park include the popular disc golf course and maintaining other uses near it such as access to trails for walking, horseback riding, etc.; improved accessibility; protecting natural resources such as the Thatcher Brook and wildlife including turtles. Any future improvements also need to take into account adjacent residential neighborhoods.
The Ice Center park property has been developed piece-by-piece over the past 20 years and it now contains a variety of recreation uses including the rink, playing fields, the dog park, parking areas, a walking trail, and access to the Perry Hill mountain bike trails. A skatepark is on the drawing boards while the town Highway Department would like to preserve a section for storage for gravel, equipment, etc.
In September, a survey was distributed online and at a public open house to gather input from the public about priorities and ideas for details that the plans should address. About 50 people attended the open house and the survey collected 274 complete responses and another 177 partial responses, according to SE officials working on the project.
An example in the park plan of a nature trail with a path using wood chips. Courtesy photo
That input along with the committee’s direction led to the draft concepts that are now available for people to examine and will be discussed on March 2.
At a steering committee meeting in December, Patrick Olstad from the SE Group consulting firm outlined a proposal that would re-establish the nature trail at Hope Davey. It would mean shifting some disc golf tees and baskets away from wetlands, he noted. Other potential improvements could be ADA-compliant access and better screening between the park and neighborhoods.
Olstad initially suggested four draft concepts for the Ice Center area. In general, they aim to add more park amenities to tie the various uses together—features such as signs, covered areas for picnicking, restrooms, etc. One question the committee is considering is whether the existing road should be relocated.
Two proposed features of the Ice Center Park are a new town skatepark and a relocated bicycle pump park. Courtesy photos
Town Planning and Zoning Director Steve Lotspeich noted that the committee has narrowed down the options for the Ice Center area to two, largely based on input from staff at the state Department of Environmental Conservation regarding regulations governing river corridors that consider flood hazard mitigation. Situated beside the Winooski River, the entire 40-acre area lies within a river corridor, Lotspeich said.
Labeled maps along with photos of examples of proposed amenities and features are part of the draft plans that are online and will be explained in Thursday’s presentation.
Anyone unable to attend the meeting who may be interested in offering feedback to the committee can do so afterward. Lotspeich said the committee would accept comments for at least another week after the presentation. Send comments to his email address slotspeich@waterburyvt.com or contact him with questions via email or call 802-244-1012.