Glenlake Park (Mostly) Open!
Decatur Metro | May 30, 2010 | 10:35 amLots of reports coming in from residents that Glenlake Park, which has been under renovation for over a year, has finally reopened to the public.
In fact, City Manager Peggy Merriss wrote in a comment on Friday…
We’re trying to get some parts of Glenlake Park open this weekend but the whole park will probably not be ready. If someone can just keep it from raining for just a few more days, we’ll be ready to go.
None have the comments I’ve received have mentioned any portions of the park that aren’t yet open. They’ve consisted mostly of just eyewitness reports stating that the park did infact seem open to the public.
Go! And report back!
thumbs up
(except for the winged bollard thing in the center of the wheelchair ramp in front of the bathrooms)
Hopefully that’ll get changed soon.
Nice tie-ins to the neighboring developments. A couple of unfinished spots in the walkway with soft, deep, gravel. Be careful on a bike.
It’s nice. Of course, put $3 million into anything, and it will be nice. The walking path is the best feature. Path seems a bit narrow, but not a huge deal. I like how they connected it to the cemetary. The stream imporvements are good too. A more natural look.
But given the price tag and the construction time, I find it quite underwhelming. It’s hard to see how the park is materially better and worth the investment. Playground is unchanged. The green space of the former baseball field is now replaced by a slightly larger greenspace. Not all that much better, or different, other than a lot of new sod. The old pavillion is replaced by a new one. Fine as it goes, but is that really worth all the money and shutting the park for over a year? The old one was perfectly functional and used frequently, and could have been spruced up as opposed to being moved and replaced. The new ball field seems so small, I’m not sure baseball or softball can actually be played there.
Lots of new, expensive-looking retaining walls and bridges. Again, they are well done. But how much do they really add to the park?
I realize they are not done, but other than at the entrance to the pool, there is nowhere to park and lock a bike. An oversight? Or are racks going to be installed?
Also — the speed bumps in the parking lot are quite severe — very steep. Was that intentional?
I think they did a great job. The layout makes it seem so much larger, and so much more “usable”. The multi-use field is gorgeous, and seems suitable for concerts, parties, ultimate frisbee, whatever. Love it.
I pity the poor bloke that attempts to drive his sports car over those speed bumps. I predict a bevy of ruined front spoilers and scraped undercarraiges. The speed bumps are overly severe…have to come almost to a complete stop to safely get over them. I was very careful and bottomed out in an Avalon.
Agreed about the speed bumps! I may just continue parking on Church instead of driving in there.
The park looks fantastic….it seems dramatically larger and more open to general use.
That said, with a hefty price tag attached to the upgrades, it better look that way.
I for one am glad that park got a huge face lift; hoping it will be used, taken care of, & enjoyed by all of Decatur.
Nice to have it back after a year. Agree with DEM and others– $3M was alot for changes that seem mostly cosmetic.
The dogs love the creek and the water fountain in the dog park. I love having a quick route to Glendale Estates again.
BUT: ( and isn’t there always one?) After all the fuss and promises about getting rid of the kudzu, it’s still all over the park. And freakin’ poison ivy in the dog park? Huh? Maybe I should send my “kids” over to snuggle with the construction manager & see how he likes it!! If you can build those snappy looking walls and plant flowering shrubs along the creek, can’t you allocate $$ to get rid of the basic nuisances? A little attention to detail makes all the difference!
Speaking of Kudzu, along the cemetery’s eastern boundary where the real kudzu battle was fought, it’s all returned! I seem to recall our leaders saying that it would be a 3 year effort. Did they already forget about it so soon?
I thought they were going to get some goats to eat the kudzu. I loved that idea.
Crikey, do yall think you could complain a little more?
I think the thread inviting comment about posters must be somewhere else.
This is the thread inviting comments on the park. Did you have one?
Ouch! Direct hit. You are absolutely right, Ridge, my comment was off-topic and as much of a complaint as the other whines above. My only defense: I was provoked by the nattering nabobs of negativism.
$3 million was spent this work. I think it is fair for taxpayers to give honest comments about the completed project – positive and negative. IMO there is both above not just negative.
I think the park looks good. The drainage issues were pretty serious, I am glad they have been addressed. Really good that more of the park is accessible to the public.
Much better set up for the dog park, too.
Just returned from the park and I think it’s great! Love the green space, the abundance of park benches, and the shady area for dogs. Like that they re-used the perfectly good playground equipment!
I agree that they did an excellent job addressing the drainage issues.
I, too, noticed the poison ivy in the dog area, but I imagine a quick call to the parks & recreation folks will fix that problem.
I understand the park is not complete yet. To me that means the contractor must still resolve a “punchlist”. Now is the time for DM readers to inspect the work and and point out issues that should be included in that list. Finding faults may seem “negative” but in this case is a valuable process.
re:The 3 million dollar expenditure, If the project came in on budget wasn’t the time to complain about that a while ago when it was proposed? I took a third long look at the work today and although the resculpting and excavation work was subtle, it did not look trivial. That’s not my area of expertise but I will suppose that working in this active drainage area while safeguarding environmental concerns (and regulations) must have been daunting.
What’s with the blacktop near the open field and playground? What’s the point of that? Is something suppose to be added there soon?
What’s with the blacktop near the open field and playground? What’s the point of that? Is something suppose to be added there soon?
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Basketball court, once they add the hoops
Does anyone know if they’re planning to renovate the tennis courts? They have a LOT of huge cracks in them. Was hoping the 3M would help with that…
I think they’re going to resurface with a pricey but more high tech and durable surface. An additional expense, I believe.
(BTW: 3M plus interest.)
I went jogging through Glenlake this morning, and absolutely loved the improvements. There’s now something of a trail running along the north edge that I don’t think was there before. I think there’s probably more than 1k worth of path there, which means one can run four or five laps and have a nice run under trees, surrounded by grass without having to worry about cars at all. Much more pleasant than the ASC track for that purpose. Combine it with the cemetery, and there’s a really worthwhile run there.
What struck me about the layout was the density of it. It seemed that the planners were aware of the lack of park space in the city, and wanted Glenlake to serve as many constituents as possible.
I have been to our newly renovated park and am also “underwhelmed”. I was part of the planning process (they wanted input from the residents to steer the design). What I saw last week is different from the resulting plan we saw. (See the pdf on the city’s website at http://www.decaturga.com/client_resources/cgs/citysvcs/ced/bondfund/future%20master%20plan_revised.pdf)
I am grateful that they kept all of the tennis courts, but I wish that the people visiting the park had as much shade as the dog park does. I don’t understand all of the tree clearing. I also don’t understand the new field that looks too small as compared with our old baseball field. We were to get 3 pavillions, not just 1, and an outdoor classroom. The connection with the cemetery is really poor – the grade is too steep for elderly folks.
Perhaps I am being too judgemental and will be happier once they are finished. It looks like a very expensive civil engineering project. So they handled the drainage issues well.
I would have rather saved the money to pay for the Recreation Center renovation that is over budget. Since when has anything come in under budget these days?