According to Park Board rep Jenny Fillmer Edwards, the input session is part of a larger effort on the part of the board to expand the parks master plan with a series of more granular, location-specific plans. The effort began with an input session regarding Lafayette earlier this year.
Back in April, the park’s pool sustained enough damage that it was closed for the whole of the summer season.
“With that," said Edwards, "and some other ideas that had been percolating at the neighborhood association level, it was a good time to get started on a neighborhood survey in Grant Beach.”
Neighborhood Association president Jamie Tatum said that those ideas include an updated pavilion area, general cleanliness improvements and a skate park. That last one is a long-running request according to Austin Korte and Kelsey Williams, who came to the input session to advocate for a free, concrete skating area in Grant Beach.
Grant Beach was one of the first parks acquired by the park board when it formed in 1914. Since then, it's seen a lake converted into a pool, the construction of a pavilion, and the installation of a decommissioned steam engine — now home to the Railroad Historical Museum.