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Newton Parks Board members Jim Klier, Melanie Humphrey, Amanda Price and newest member Marc Jackson along with Parks Administrative Superintendent Nathan Unsworth and Public Works Director Keith Laube discussed several projects at its September meeting Wednesday night at Newton City Hall. Board chair Adam Vandall was not present.
The main area of topic was in regard to structural updates at Aurora Park in Newton.
The first course of action the board has plans to take is with the resurfacing of the Aurora Park tennis courts followed by the installation of new playground equipment and the possible installation of a unique boulder park.
The board would like to resurface the tennis courts in place and will be taking bids for asphalt, surfacing paint as well as tiling and matting. Asphalt has an expectancy of seven years whereas a tiling surface could last 20 to 25 years. The board will compare bids and determine which option is the most cost efficient in the long term. This project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2016.
The second course of action the board has plans to take is with the installation of a new playground equipment. The board moved forward in selecting two Aurora Park playground design options from a selection of nine. The board will have a representative from Cunningham Recreation, of Des Moines, present further information and answer questions about the two playground options to determine which is the best.
The playground budget is $50,000, half of the budget the board had with last year’s Maytag Park playground equipment installation, and could include structures such as a zip line, whirlwind seat and expression swing designed for mothers and infants. This project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2016.
The third course of action the board has plans to take is to install a boulder park for older children. A boulder park would consist of rock wall and boulder structures that create a climbing environment.
This project is in the earliest preliminary stages of design and board decided to wait on its design approval. The boulder park budget will be determined by the cost of the other two projects, but the cost could be up to $95,000.
Also discussed at the meeting was the Westwood Golf Course Clubhouse Project.
The board was given two updated designs for the project from Big Creek Design Group, of Polk City. The craftsman architecture design with a pitch roof was chosen over the contemporary architecture design with a flat roof. The layout of a potential new clubhouse would include a pro shop, golfers lounge and large banquet room. Natural lightning, storage space, maintenance and golfer needs were discussed as well as needs of people using the banquet space.
The board is working in conjunction with city staff on design requirements of the clubhouse. A master design plan will not be ready to move forward until later this year, and a new clubhouse would.
In other business:
• Both Woodland Park and Maytag Park will gain new outdoor pit toilets, similar to an outhouse. These bathrooms will be year-long handicap accessible with a fan and scent aeration. They will be placed near the Woodland Park shelter and near the southwest corner of the Maytag Park parking lot by the disc golf starting location. The board will take these recommendations to city council on Monday.
• The Little Free Library will be moved to Sersland Park in downtown Newton due to its vandalism at Maytag Park. The little library was installed in August.
Contact Kate Malott at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or kmalott@newtondailynews.com