CORINTH - Residents can get another look at tentative plans to finish Corinth Community Park during a joint meeting Thursday.
The City Council, the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Trails Committee will meet to discuss options to complete the 116-acre park on the city's east side.
The joint meeting begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 3300 Corinth Parkway.
During the City Council's regular meeting last week, a planning consultant showed city leaders four different drawings for the completion of Corinth Community Park. Three of the concept drawings were shared with the parks board. The consultant drew a fourth concept after getting feedback from the parks board.
Mark Hatchel, with Kimley-Horn and Associates, based in Irving, told the council that the concept plans came after meetings with city staff and park users, including youth athletic groups.
"A lot of this is finishing what was started," Hatchel said.
Currently, the park features a pond with a boardwalk and fishing piers, ball fields, play areas and a trail.
The concept plans include two to four football fields, five to six soccer fields, and three fourplexes for baseball, softball, T-ball and a Miracle League field.
Volunteers are working to bring Miracle League, a 14-year-old program of accessible youth baseball, to Corinth, council member Randy Gibbons has said.
The fields would all be lighted and irrigated and have concession stands nearby, costing between an estimated $5.5 million and $6.1 million to build.
After seeing the original three concept plans, the parks board suggested scaling back the number of ball fields and paving less parking, in part to preserve trails and natural areas. They also recommended taking out a concrete trail.
Hatchel told the council he was comfortable doing that because there were enough other concrete trails in the community to meet accessibility needs. This scaled-back plan, with two football fields and five soccer fields, would cost about $4.8 million to complete, Hatchel said.
In a letter to residents, Mayor Paul Ruggiere identified about $1.17 million the city may be able to tap for park improvements, along with about $50,000 each year.
Council members asked Hatchel whether the plans were such that they could be executed in phases. They could, Hatchel said.
Some problems with drainage and runoff into Lynchburg Creek could also be addressed in the park, but the concept plans did not contain that kind of engineering, Hatchel said.
Residents living around the park have struggled with runoff and localized flooding in past years, council member John Booher said.
Several residents came to see the plans presented.
In an interview after last week's presentation, resident Everett Marple said many people in the community appreciate the open spaces and the trees in the park, too.
The plan looked to "maximize every square inch with something," Marple said. "I'm not sure I saw a space for a kid to fly a kite."
Still, he was glad the community had a chance to talk about it.
"Like he [Hatchel] said, the park can't be everything to everyone," Marple said.
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .
