Parks & rec seeks public input for 'blank-slate' renovation of Meredith park

MEREDITH — Prescott Park is the town’s busiest, playing host to soccer, softball and baseball games, tennis and pickleball matches and skateboarders.

Yet, as anyone who's visited the park might have noticed, it is not without its deficiencies. And some of those are significant, agreed Vint Choiniere, director of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department.

What are the park’s biggest problems to address, and how could it better serve the public in the future? Rather than list his own answers to those questions, Choiniere would like to know what the park’s myriad users think. Toward that end, the town is soliciting public feedback, through several channels, to inform a redesign of the park that could be put before voters at next year’s Town Meeting.

“I would call it a full-on, blank-slate renovation,” Choiniere said about the scope of the ambitions for Prescott Park.

The park comprises two areas. The portion nearest Route 3, the “lower fields” as Choiniere called them, has athletic fields, a playground, a restroom building, a skatepark and an ice skating rink. The second area, accessed via a driveway from the rest of the park, is where the tennis and pickleball courts are found, as well as more baseball fields and an open, multi-purpose field.

Sharing opinions

A volunteer committee, including representatives from the selectboard, community groups who use the space and from the general community, has been convened to lead the renovation effort. To help inform the research, the town has contracted with Ironwood Design Group, based in Exeter, to determine what the public would like to see for the future of the town’s most-used park.

There are four avenues for the public to make their opinions heard. The first is an in-person listening session at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9, at the Meredith Community Center.

A second listening session is scheduled to take place via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 17.

A family-friendly walking tour of the park will be offered starting at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, at the lower level of the park. In case of rain, the tour will be rescheduled to Saturday, May 17.

If none of those dates are convenient, community members are also welcome to fill out a survey.

Links to the survey and information about how to join the April 17 Zoom session can be found at meredithnh.gov/301/Prescott-Park-Renovation-Committee.

‘Full-on renovation’

“The lower part needs a full-on renovation,” Choiniere said. Such should be apparent to the casual observer. Fencing and buildings are showing wear, and there’s ponding in the dirt parking area, and in some of the playing fields, anytime there’s rain.

Even when the parking lot is dry, there’s “severely inadequate parking,” Choiniere said. When the parking lot fills up, people end up parking along both sides of the driveway serving the upper fields, leaving only a narrow passage for vehicles. What’s worse is there’s no sidewalk, so pedestrians and vehicles are forced into that narrow path. Choiniere shudders to think of what would happen if an ambulance were needed in the upper fields during such a situation.

“The lower park is in really rough shape,” Choiniere said. “The upper park is much newer, and is much better condition, but there are issues we are looking at there as well.”

In addition to improving drainage, parking capacity and safety, Choiniere said the committee is going to examine the cost and benefits of installing synthetic playing surfaces versus staying with grass, and will look for ways to make the facilities open to all visitors, especially those with mobility challenges.

“The other area where we are lacking desperately is accessibility, so we are looking at that as well,” Choiniere said.

Those are the shortcomings Choiniere considers glaring, and he’s hoping the public will be able to enlighten the committee to some of the less-obvious ways the park could be improved.

“Currently, there is heavy athletic team use, and that need will still remain,” Choiniere said, but perhaps it could be enhanced for other uses.

The recently rebuilt skate park has been very popular, and Choiniere said he doesn’t think any changes will be made to that structure, nor to the restroom building immediately adjacent. Also nearby, though, is an ice skating rink which has been barely used in the last several years due to warm winters. Choiniere said it’s possible plans could include making it easier to create and maintain an ice sheet there.

In the upper fields, there’s an access road that encircles the playing fields. Though it was built to provide equipment a way to reach the perimeter of the fields, it has taken on a second life as a great place to go for a walk. Choiniere would like to know what might be done to make it even better for walkers.

Next steps

Choiniere said the information gained in the coming two months will be crucial in shaping the plan. It will be compiled by Ironwood Design Group and its subcontractors this summer. The design group will work with the committee to sort through the suggestions and come up with a recommended renovation plan, including cost estimates.

Choiniere said he hopes to be able to bring such a plan to voters at next year’s Town Meeting.

“Where we’re at now is we’re in the midst of what we call community outreach. It’s very, very important that we get as much community input as we can before we sit down and try to map out renovations for the park,” Choiniere said. “We are hoping folks will weigh in and tell us their thoughts. How do they feel about the park, what’s most important to them?”