Official envisions gem of a park at Clinton Lake
Fred DeVictor looks at 1,515 acres of land the city leases at Clinton Lake and sees a potential jewel in Lawrence’s park system.
And he wants the public’s help to make it shine. DeVictor, director of Lawrence Parks and Recreation, is planning a series of meetings to take public input for a master plan to turn the land into a regional park.
“It’s a fantastic area,” he said. “There are very few cities that have a site this large to plan all at once.”
The city leases the land below the Clinton Lake Dam from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is already home to Eagle Bend Golf Course, a wetland area, ball fields and an off-leash dog park, but DeVictor said those uses took up only a quarter of the available land.
“We certainly want to protect a lot of it, but we also want to think of ways we can attract people from outside the community,” he said.
Some ideas already have been floated expect a “Sesquicentennial Plaza” to open in 2004 but DeVictor said public input would be crucial to planning the park.
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City may use foundation to raise money for parks (09-01-2002)“It’d be silly of us to do some sort of plan nobody will buy into,” he said. “It’s important to listen to folks about their concerns, the kinds of facilities they’d like to see at this site.”
And the plan must include some of the dirty details, such as how to provide utilities, roads and maintenance costs for the park.
“We have to be able to take care of it,” DeVictor said.
Officials expect to take a plan to the Lawrence City Commission for approval in December or January. After that, the park will probably be developed over 20 years.