GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Parks Department recently approved a master plan that will set the stage for growth over the next five years.
The parks board unanimously approved the latest master plan at its March 20 board meeting after garnering public feedback over the past eight months.
“We’ve had a series of public input opportunities since last July,” said parks director Ellen Kuker.
“We sent out a survey, we posted a survey on Facebook, we had interviews with key leaders and stakeholders. We also had public input opportunities at one of our concerts this past summer and at our trunk-or-treat event in the fall. Once we gathered all of that public input, the consultant firm we hired took it back and dissected that information to produce our plan,” she said.
Roughly 300 people provided feedback throughout the process, with about two dozen different wish list items gathered.
At the top of the list were the desire for more parks facilities, trails and playgrounds, including indoor recreational space. A majority of respondents were also in strong favor of the proposed Riley Park Site Master Plan, which outlines the goals for the city’s oldest park, which currently includes a number of baseball fields once used by the Greenfield Youth Baseball Association.
“Once the association exited Riley Park, we started the effort to redesign the park,” Kuker said.
The association has since relocated to a new ball park behind Greenfield Central Junior High School, leaving the fields in Riley Park mostly unused.
The 40-acre park will soon be reconstructed into separate zones, including a youth and teen zone at the north end of the park that will include a pump track for bike riding as well as a skate park.
Kuker said she hopes to see both the pump track and skate park come to fruition within the next five years.
Previous five-year master plans have proven invaluable in guiding the parks department’s growth over the years, said the parks director, who has led the department since 2012.
“They help us prioritize projects and new amenities to add to the community,” she said.
“It’s always exciting to look back at the goals and see what we’ve accomplished the last five years,” said Greenfield’s park board president Deby Low.
The last master plan, which was focused on 2019-2023, prompted a number of new improvements, including the Brandywine Connector, connecting Brandywine Park to the Pennsy Trail, and the Franklin Connector, connecting Beckenholdt Park to the Pennsy Trail via sidewalks and trails along Franklin Road.
The last master plan also led to updating the Riley Park playground, including the renovation of public restrooms.
“The master plan gives us the tools we need to move forward, with plans while gaining access to community feedback to let us know the direction we should be headed,” said Josh Gentry, maintenance operations manager for the Greenfield Parks.
Kuker said having an up-to-date five-year master plan also gives the parks department access to grants from the Department of Natural Resources, which require such a plan from grant applicants.
“That’s just one of the reasons we have it, but not the only reason. The main reason for the master plan is to give the public the parks amenities they want most,” she said.
“The process gives us an opportunity to connect with the community to find our strengths, our weaknesses and maybe where we’re lacking in services and amenities the community would like to see. The complexion of the community can change in that five-year window, so we want to make sure we’re giving the public the amenities they want most,” Kuker said.
