The Observation Deck

1. Do you think that this park is currently safe?

During the day, I would say it is reasonably safe. I have walked and biked through it at night and never felt worried but it is secluded and that can be a concern if someone wanted to take advantage of that.

2 Do you think that this park is currently well maintained?

Yes and no. The field is a giant green field and seems fine. I count the putt putt as a part of this and it lays in waste so no for that.

3. Would Kaufman Park would be improved if it were moved to the forefront, adjacent to Detroit Ave?

Is the question meaning if the park, as is, is simply now on the Detroit Rd. side and not track side, no, that won't improve it. Chasing baseballs into the street can't be fun, either.

4. Have you or your family members used this park in the past 3 months?

As a family, no. There are closer parks to where I live and we go there or most often we play in the Hayes School playground. I have used it as a walk through to parts north during the summer. I went with a friend to fly lo-tech airplanes around for a bit.

5. Does a park require playground equipment?

No, I think there are plenty of parks with playground equipment and I don't think every park has to have that (and with the city not maintaining them as is, more won't be an improvement). I like the more generic green space with the baseball field. I like the putt putt course (which I used with my daughter from time to time until it went away...grrr...).


6. Do planters qualify as green space?

No way. If a planter is "green space" akin to "Park space" then I have gobs of "park space" on my front porch!

. Do you think that this park is currently safe?
I don't know. I only look at it when I'm shopping at the Farmer's Market, and it is pretty much deserted.
2 Do you think that this park is currently well maintained?
No. It looks like a fenced-off space. There is nothing to attract a person to enter it unless they are attending/playing a game on the field. The playground is nothing special, and the miniature golf, which used to be cute, has been closed ever since my kids have been old enough to use it.
3. Would Kaufman Park would be improved if it were moved to the forefront, adjacent to Detroit Ave?
Yes, absolutely. As I read through the posts on this thread, I noticed basically no one said they used this park in the past three months. The last three SUMMER months. Doesn't that say something? Moving it to the forefront would make the street more attractive, remind people that the park is there and available for use, and make those using it feel safer.
4. Have you or your family members used this park in the past 3 months?
No.
5. Does a park require playground equipment?
No, especially if it is the same old equipment that every other park has. One thing that does attract people and is fun for young and old is a water feature, something like the fountains that shoot water up at the Botanical Gardens. Kids love water play, and older people love to watch kids have fun. If playground equipment is installed, let's give it some real thought, and not be swayed only by OSHA requirements, resulting in play structures that are not fun.
6. Do planters qualify as green space?
No, but they are nice.

Regarding Kaufmann Park:

1. The park is safe during the day, but I would be loathe to take my children there after school or in the evening.

2. I don't think it's well maintained. As far as I know, restrooms are not readily available (unless there's a baseball game going on). Little Links' closure was due to needed updates/improvements for which "there was no money."

3. The park could be improved if it was moved towards Detroit. Anything that is new can be "improved." What might be more telling is if the "improvements" are still perceived as such 5-10 years after being created/the park is moved. That is, if it's moved.

4. We have not been to the park in the last 3 months. I used to take my kids there regularly when they were smaller. This is several years ago, and it was not in the shape it is now. It was cleaner. I didn't have to worry then about parenting teenagers who were taking advantage of its hidden location.

5. Playground equipment is a necessity to all parks in Lakewood. It is a draw to people and families and encourages them to be out and about. I could go on about obesity rates in children, video games, etc., but I won't.
Planters don't cut it. They do look nice if they're watered.

A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal profiled NYC's Parks and Rec Commissioner, Adrian Benepe. His philosophy is that well cared for parks draw people out and help create community. They have an important presence in cities. If they are not cared for, they attract crime and repel the people we all would like to be out. Here is a link to the article; if you cannot access it, email me and I'll print it out for you.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118886654257416431.html

Answers from a couple of 13-14 year old Lakewood residents.

1. Do you think that this park is currently safe?
Yes.

2 Do you think that this park is currently well maintained?
Yes. The playground is nice, the lawn is mowed.

3. Would Kaufman Park would be improved if it were moved to the forefront, adjacent to Detroit Ave?
How could you move a park?

4. Have you or your family members used this park in the past 3 months?
Yes. Lots of times.

5. Does a park require playground equipment?
Yes, kids use it.

6. Do planters qualify as green space?
NO!

And for the fill in question, where would you suggest replacing Foxx field and where would you suggest moving it to?
We think it should stay there.

And for the fill in question, where would you suggest replacing Foxx field and where would you suggest moving it to?

Site of the former McKinley elementary school (when it closes),
Site of the former Taft Elementary school (when it closes)
Site of the Bored of Ed. when they move from Warren to Franklin sgchool
Site of Former Grant school (when and if it closes)
Fairchild dealership site that when Forest City realized that Rockport phase 3 is too aggressive.
Steve Barry Buick when they desert Lakewood and move to Westlake like all the other dealerships.
Site of the former Silver Coast Aptments when city comdemns them and they are demolished

They're could be other possibilities....But we certainly don't want to think outside the box or upset the status quo

Jeff Endress wrote:

And for the fill in question, where would you suggest replacing Foxx field and where would you suggest moving it to?

Site of the former McKinley elementary school (when it closes),
Site of the former Taft Elementary school (when it closes)
Site of the Bored of Ed. when they move from Warren to Franklin sgchool
Site of Former Grant school (when and if it closes)
Fairchild dealership site that when Forest City realized that Rockport phase 3 is too aggressive.
Steve Barry Buick when they desert Lakewood and move to Westlake like all the other dealerships.
Site of the former Silver Coast Aptments when city comdemns them and they are demolished

They're could be other possibilities....But we certainly don't want to think outside the box or upset the status quo

Excellent point(s) Jeff

Jeff -

Bored of education? That is the kind of Freudian slip I would not attribute to you. Too much MAMA last night?

Jeff Endress wrote:

And for the fill in question, where would you suggest replacing Foxx field and where would you suggest moving it to?

Site of the former McKinley elementary school (when it closes),
Site of the former Taft Elementary school (when it closes)
Site of the Bored of Ed. when they move from Warren to Franklin sgchool
Site of Former Grant school (when and if it closes)
Fairchild dealership site that when Forest City realized that Rockport phase 3 is too aggressive.
Steve Barry Buick when they desert Lakewood and move to Westlake like all the other dealerships.
Site of the former Silver Coast Aptments when city comdemns them and they are demolished

They're could be other possibilities....But we certainly don't want to think outside the box or upset the status quo

All these locations sound great for some future mixed use development. Look forward to when they are put up for sale.

I was very ambivalent about Foxx Field until I talked to a few moms who had children who had or were playing 14 plus rec baseball. They said there were very few fields that met the minimum requirements for a 14 plus field in Lakewood. Fields that didn't count...Harding. They also said the high school field was not accessible to the public at large and the fields in the MetroParks explicitly did not allow that level of play. That basically leaves Madison and Kaufmann Parks.

Which brought back to mind my experience as a child where a player (below 14) known to be a slugger always had to play on the field that didn't have a parking lot outside the home-run fence. Which would explain why Harding is off limits to the over 14 group. You really need a 400' plus clearance from home plate to be safe.

The amount of space needed to accommodate the 14 plus level of play is probably larger than most of the above. Baseball fields are very land greedy.

Look forward to when they are put up for sale.

But, of course, they are.....In EXACTLY the same way that everyone assumes Kaufman is on the block. Nothing definite...yet. But as long as we're talking about unformulated plans for Kaufman, we might as well expand the discussion to include the others. I'm sure that the unformulated, indefinite plans for all the sites mentioned are as worthy of discussion as the unformulated, indefinite preliminary discussions concerning Kaufman.

Some developer is already deep in discussions with the Bd. of Ed., gonna buy McKinley, do a land swap with the city for Kaufman, and with the difference in value, due to location, kick in enough to develop the WEST END RECREATION CENTER!

Any developer wants to do a mixed use development near the city center.

There is NO city park on the West End...McKinley is perfect. And, if you walk the campus, it has more than adequate size.

Why do we allow our young children to play so near those dangerous railroad tracks anyway? Encourages kids to trespass on the tracks....trains don't stop....Seems like maintaining a park in the present location is just an accident waiting to happen. Thank God we've been lucky so far. We need to move Kaufman for the sake of the safety of our children.

Jeff

I had heard that school properties have to be offered to charter schools before they can be used for anything else. Is this still true?

That could throw a wrench in any school property re-development plans.

If it were up to me, I'd say leave Kaufmann park alone for right now and why not rip down that horrid Lakewood City Center monstrosity and start over?

Jeff Endress wrote:But as long as we're talking about unformulated plans for Kaufman, we might as well expand the discussion to include the others. I'm sure that the unformulated, indefinite plans for all the sites mentioned are as worthy of discussion as the unformulated, indefinite preliminary discussions concerning Kaufman.
Jeff

Jeff, while you continually say that since there is no definite plan, then there is no point to talk about the Kaufman park redevelopment, I would like to point out advantages for such conversations.

Discussion on redevelopment can give city planners and developers an insight to how the public feels about said developments. They can show what the citizens want and don't want and therefore can influence the plans so that when presented those plans are more widely accepted by Lakewood citizens.

This being said, I would agree that all redevelopment ideas are ripe for conversation. It shows public interest in where this city is headed and should be used as market research. Many people may want big chain anchor stores, while others may feel that an Old Navy where the Kaufman park redevelopment will be could lead to drowning out the entrepreneurs who started businesses like or want to start businesses like Turn Style, Chain Link Addiction, and Lion and Blue.

Jeff Endress wrote: But as long as we're talking about unformulated plans for Kaufman, we might as well expand the discussion to include the others. Jeff

Good point. Will the Mayor and his Administration make a statement, as they have done in a public forums concerning Streetscape improvements and changing land use on presented maps?

Has the Administration any short/medium/long range plans or visions for the use of vacated school property?

The risk, of course, of widening the discussion, is that the specific questions regarding the future of Kaufmann/Foxx get lost in a broad theroretical discussion of future land use.

The Administration has backed, and seemingly endorsed, (in beeing co-presented by the Planning Director) a public presentation indicating that Kaufmann/Foxx is no longer available green space in Lakewood. Given the presentation I attended, I prefer to keep the discussion focused on the Administration's desire to see a mixed use development on that particular plot of land.

edit - as well as being very interested in all public properties in the City that may or may not be used for private development.

I considered the Fairchild lot when filling out this survey and, comparing the lots on Google Maps, it's pretty clear that location does not have the dimensions required to contain a field of that size without having home runs or nasty fouls ending up in people's windows. It would be a huge boon if Forest City DID want to ditch the property and sell it back to the city to be converted to green space, especially since I live practically across the street from it.

It doesn't look like the McKinley or Taft sites would offer adequate space either. You'd need a lot roughly the size of the Marc's plaza and lot.


Hmmmm...... *strokes chin*

Jeff Endress wrote:

Look forward to when they are put up for sale.

Why do we allow our young children to play so near those dangerous railroad tracks anyway? Encourages kids to trespass on the tracks....trains don't stop....Seems like maintaining a park in the present location is just an accident waiting to happen. Thank God we've been lucky so far. We need to move Kaufman for the sake of the safety of our children.

Jeff

And discussing crime statistics that show an increase in severity is fear mongering? What would this be called?
Let's see so far we've heard that Foxx field is unneeded and unused- not true. That when it is used it's only by out of towners- not true. And now an allegation that Kaufman Park is like letting our kids play on the railroad tracks? What's next?

What's next?

Perhaps some more of my sarcastic wit?

Jeff