Brian Evans answered that this question was a motivating force behind the plan. There is grant money available for public parks and areas that promote education, learning, public art and entertainment.
One of the ideas is to have placards in different areas of the park, describing how it came to be, who "Kauffman" is, what the history of the area itself is, ie: Lakewood used to be a city of fruit orchards, this land was once on Mr. Andrews farm. Part of the plan is to possibly restore some of that-- in the form of cherry trees. The park would also be a sanctuary for indigenous plants, which could be studied, perhaps through a partnership with the library, along with more support of the public gardens that are already there.
Here is a sample of one of the placards:
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This one is about Amos Kauffman, a very popular Lakewood mayor who saw the city through the Depression and beyond, and the agricultural history of Lakewood.
Another part of the plan covered areas where children can play and explore, and where adults can too.
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This is a water jet play area for kids which doubles as a stage when the water is turned off. Simple, inexpensive, with multiple uses. All of these things hit different points on grant applications. I can't remember where this is to be placed, but it was in the overall plan.
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Here is an idea for the pedestrian entrance at Andrews, that celebrates the idea of walking and nature. One of the ideas was that these trees could be cherry trees.
Much of the debate was regarding the use of the space for the baseball field. A big push was made by soccer supporters to change this field into a soccer field, or to add a small one at the back of it. Brian Evans stressed that in the discussions that were had and in the survey answers, it was made very clear that residents wanted to keep the ballfield, and update it, and said that it was not likely that there would be money to configure a soccer field.
This led to more discussion about Lakewood's built-out space, and whether this plan addressed the far-reaching needs of all, especially families, as well as it could. There were those that felt that it did this wonderfully, reaching across the city in terms of serving children through adults, in terms of relaxation, education, entertainment and recreation in the form of a more formal space like Fox field.
There was also discussion about "blowing up the Taco Bell" and taking over the space across Andrews extension, where there is a vacant building. Mr. Evans seemed to find this very unlikely and stressed that they focused on space owned by the city of Lakewood, they did not think it likely that the city would buy this and give it to the park. He said that their hope was that a good tenant could be found for that space that supported the vision of the park.
And there was more, but that's a lot for now. It was a very passionate group.
Betsy Voinovich