VIROQUA, Wis. -Numerous city of Viroqua residents showed up to a public feedback meeting on Wednesday, June 11, regarding the city plans to tear down Viroqua’s Eckhart Enchantment (“Dragon Park”) playground because of safety concerns, and replace it with a more modern structure. About 16 people gave feedback, most of whom were parents and grandparents, and almost all of them asked the city for a way to save the existing park, pause, rethink the plan, or develop plans for a “hybrid” playground.
The decisions about what to do with the park are not easy. The playground is one the most loved fixtures in the community, not only because of its unique setting under a canopy of mature trees and natural materials, but also because of the way it came to be. Funding and building the original structure was a true community effort in 1996, both in terms of fundraising and the numerous volunteers that provided the labor in a week long build. The structure holds a sense community like few other local landmarks.
Located inside the city’s Eckhart Park, the playgrounds official name is Eckhart Enchantment, but the large green dragon silhouette in the side caused most people to simply call it Dragon Park.
A couple of generations of kids have now been enchanted by the popular family play site that has kept them busy for hours exploring the twists and turns under a beautiful canopy of mature trees. But that structure is slated to be removed and replaced, with what city leadership hopes is a better and safer play area.
How we got here
Years of minimal maintenance to mainly wood materials has left the city with few options. Rotting support posts and broken equipment pieces has raised safety concerns for the city and families who use the space.
In an attempt to replace the old structure with something as close as possible to the original, the city (specifically, previous Park and Rec Director Dan Stalsberg) began discussions with the company that designed and built the original structure, Leathers and Associates. The city not only wanted to work with the same company to duplicate the design, but they also wanted to use the community labor approach that had work so well the first time around, and could potentially help keep costs down.
A volunteer committee was formed to fund raise and guide the project that included city council members, staff and community members. That committee inlcudes Angie Lawwrence, Charlie Knower, Akram Abed, Matt Emslie, Kim Littel, Jacob Kanis. A city leadership committee includes council member Steve Willis (Alderperson), City Administrator Nate Torres and Park and Rec Director Kale Proksch.
Gathering community input
An online survey was put out to city residents with 273 responses. The survey showed the top two favorite things about the current park are the trees/shade and the separation of and specific areas for older/younger children. The top three priorities for what the community would like to see in the park were a zip line, swings and climbing activities.
The survey asked if there was a theme people would like to see in the new playground. The top three priorities were to keep the current dragon theme, theme does not matter and nature/woodland/native/natural.
Things respondents would change, according to the survey results, included better ground surface/more accessible/no wood chips and more maintenance (grounds and equipment).
The survey also asked what could be incorporated into the playground to make sure those with special needs have a place to enjoy. The top two priorities were swings, solid ground, wheelchair accessible surfaces, safer passageways.
But high costs, poor response times for design changes and shifting demands for the community labor part of the project caused that committee and the council to cut ties with Leathers and Associates back in February of this year.
Current design and costs
Since February the city has developed new plans with a Cambridge, Wisconsin based company, Lee Recreation, and has fleshed out several proposed versions of a new structure.
Designs range from $450,000 to $680,000. Option one is around $645,000, option two is approximately $680,000, and option three with a custom play mound is even more expensive, estimated at over $200,000 additional cost. The committee is trying to keep the project close to the original $600,000 budget.
For more information on design options currently under consideration you can go to the city Park Rec page here.
Option 2 design
Public comments
At the June 11 feedback meeting the most common request of the committee seemed to be a desire from residents that the committee reconsider moving away from a “natural” structure, or a wood based structure. Many who spoke felt the new structure, while it does contain some interesting elements, was just not the same as the current design. Almost all of the approximately 16 people who spoke asked for something closer to the existing park, or to pause the process to find other options.
Design and materials
Michael Browne works in marketing and works with companies on branding. Browne said he sees the Dragon Park as part of Viroqua’s brand that draws people and families to the city, to visit and live.
“What I see right now with Dragon Park is a park that really represents Viroqua,” said Browne. “And I’ve looked at the drawings we have here. I love that we’ve gone through a process. I don’t feel like what I see here represents the brand that Viroqua is today. And when I think about how Viroqua is going to market itself and appeal to the outside world, and bring them in, something we really need is differentiating assets, something to represent the community, who we are, where we’ve been, where we’re going. So some of the things that I’m not necessarily seeing in drawings here, relate to the material selection.”
Browne also presented 14 drawings made by the classmates of one of his kids on some of the unique elements that in the “Dragon Park” they would like to see in the new park.
“When they all became aware the Dragon Park was being taken down and something else put it into place, everyone became very concerned,” said Browne. “And I know that the commission put a lot of work into collecting feedback, but I don’t know that everybody had, I don’t know that everybody had a full understanding of what exactly that process was.”
Krista Browne said she works as a designer and encouraged the committee to slow the process down and possibly tap into more community members with talents that could help develop a design that better reflects the old park, and what the community is about.
“I’m waiting for more opportunities for there to be something that reflects the identity of our place and serves the people who use it,” said Krista Browne. “Which I find, like accessibility is very important, however, a company that’s selling you a product that they say is designed to accessible standards is different than saying that we’re going to make sure that in a design
all people are served. We can do that without buying a product that someone else sent. We have a huge number of craftspeople, designers, problem solvers right here. And I think if we ask involvement, we’re going to get it. Especially in light of how funding and things are, the trajectory of things like this happening is our one shot at restoring like the heart of a place that serves families. And if we want to be a place for families as a city, and as a region, we have to solve these problems in a way that differentiates who we are.”
Trees
A second concern was the possibility that some of the mature trees would need to be removed in order to completed a new build. One tree as already dead and will certainly need to come down. Another tree, that is fairly mature and neat the center of the location would likely have its roots damaged would also probably be removed. Beyond that the committee said it was difficult to say if any other trees would need to be removed. The committee also pointed out that the design drawings did not indicative of the tree cover that would remain because it is difficult to show trees and structures at the same time.
One of the committee leaders, Kim Littel spoke to the process of trying to keep as many trees as possible with a new park.
“We had an arborist come in and assess the trees in kind of the whole area, and one of the other trees, what will happen, most likely, is, as you excavate the area and you damage the roots, and the tree is big and old, it becomes a safety issue with the branches'” said Littel. “And then once you touch those roots that are there, you have problems with that tree, so most likely, our hope is just to remove those two trees.”
Park and Rec Director Kale Proksch also spoke to the tree issue.
“Like Kim said, they are such old trees, in my professional opinion, the safety of kids is my number one priority,” said Proksch. “So I could not look at myself in the mirror if one night, or one day, a storm rolls up and a tree branch breaks and it falls on a kid. I don’t know how anybody can deal with that. So mine is safety.”
We had an arborist come in and assess the trees in kind of the whole area, and the one of the other trees, what will happen, most likely, is, as you excavate the area and you damage the roots, and the tree is big and old, it becomes a safety issue with the branches. And then once you touch those roots that are there. You have problems with that tree, so most likely, our hope is just to remove those two trees.
Fencing
Another concern voiced by a number of speakers was the lack of fencing in the design. Several speakers said the fence in the current park was one of the biggest attractions for families, pointing out the with one entry/exist point, parents could let there kids explore without a lot of worry they would escape to the rest of the park, or run toward the State Highway that runs a short distance from the park.
“Another thing that I don’t see here in the park today is a fence,” said Michael Browne. “I’ve got three kids. When I take my three children to a park, it is kind of like Whack-a-Mole. Sometimes I am watching everything all the time, and something that the fence allows me to do as a parent is to be able to stand there and say, okay, they’re here, even if I can’t see them immediately in sight, I know that they haven’t gone off too far in the other direction.”
Samantha is a parent that lives along State Highway 56 that borders the park and told the committee a fence is a must with all the truck traffic near by.
“When I look at this photo and I don’t see one fence around it,” said Samantha. “That is a huge disadvantage, because from what the gentleman was saying, if parents have this peace of mind when they go into a park like this, or into a park and then it is fenced up into some area …especially in a growing town or a growing city like Viroqua, and those semis, they’re not stopping anytime soon.”
Types and range of play elements
A fourth concern was that the replacement structure does not have the same “imaginative” play elements that the Dragon Park has, or the range of elements for all ages. A number of speakers mentioned that in the current park kids are able to get inside a spaceship, or a barn, or cross a suspension bridge and there are more opportunities to imaginative play.
Tyler Martino is a parent and was concerned about the range of elements in the new design.
“A big concern that I have for the little children’s area is this type of equipment is all really similar to itself,” said Martino. “It’s just a repetitive type of equipment. I have a new two-year-old who has already, like physically surpassed that. But he’s not close yet to being able to use the big kids structure. The little kids playground that you have right now has all kinds of things to grow with the child from, like someone said, one week old, but more, like when they first start moving. All that’s in between nine months and, like, five or six years, that little kids playground is great for them. This (the new design) doesn’t offer much of anything. There’s nothing for upper body. I love the accessibility points, of course, but it’s just kind of a bunch of hills, is what it looks like. So I’m not sure that, your budget is already so limited. Some diversity there, and what’s available for children.”
Back to the drawing board?
Some who spoke asked the committee to stop to process altogether and go back to square one and find a company or solution that would be able to duplicate the wood structure of the current park.
“Is it possible to just stop like, or is this rolling for sure?” asked Martino. “Is it possible to say no and scrap it and come back? Or is it, I know you put a lot of work into it, and that’s sort of a terrible thing to wonder about.”
“The prices continue to go up,” said committee member Angie Lawrence. “The city has been working on this for four years.”
“But we’ll have it for potentially 50 (years),” said Martino.
“30,” said Martino.
“So a couple of generations, whatever it ends up being,” said Martino.
“We’re never going to please everybody,” said Lawrence. “And we’re trying so hard. We worked with this company (Leathers and Associates) for almost a year, and it was the only place that had any type of wood structure. And they were tragic. They were absolutely tragic. So that is a tragedy.”
“But having a playground that doesn’t reflect the character of the town we live in for 30 years wouldn’t be a tragedy?” asked Martino.
“I’m not saying one thing is right or wrong, but what I am saying is playground companies are designing playgrounds differently,” said Lawrence. “I’m not saying we can’t incorporate a lot of other things in this, because we would like to, but we have to start someplace.”
“The unsaid thing is that, yes, there’s no doubt we could pause and do other things, but in the meantime, the park is becoming unsafe,” said Littel. “And it is realistic, if we take that pause, that the park would be not available at all because there are too many things that are wrong and it’s becoming a safety hazard, so that they would have to take it down and just be without a park. We need to keep moving.”
Hybrid options
Martha Gaines said she and her family moved here not long ago from Evanston, Illinois and her family had been involved with a community build at their local park, Penny Park, that was also a wood park that eventually needed repair. Gaines said that park was repaired instead of torn down it they ended up with something better.
“Penny Park was built in the 90s,” said Gaines. “My family was intimately involved in the community build. It was amazing. I was probably only about seven or something. It was something that brought the community together. And then, of course, because of how much that park meant to everybody when it came time to replace it, because what does deteriorate and things become dangerous, and there was a huge effort to restore it instead. And I’m not an expert on the details, but I do know that that’s ultimately what they did. They determined which areas of the park were the most deteriorated, the most dangerous, and like a surgeon went in there and removed those parts. Reinforced, replaced, even big chunks of the park came out as needed. But ultimately it looked and felt the same, and was even better because of some additions, and obviously making things safer and using materials that would last many years into the future. So, I have to believe that could be done, and I just feel like you owe it to the community to explore that rather than rip the whole thing down.”
Former Park and Rec Director Dan Stalsberg said he liked the new design presented and appreciated the work the committee and staff has put into it.
“Wonderful job,” said Stalsberg. “My hat’s off to you guys. I think it’s a great design. I mean, a fence would be wonderful, but we can’t afford it. You know, that’s where it all comes down to dollars. I think that’s a great design.”
Add comment