Clark Middle School Class Visit

On Monday, the 29th of November, Corvus Design conducted an in-class workshop with Heather McIntyre’s Architectural Design Students at Clark Middle School.  Students spent the class period brainstorming and responding to questions that were based on recreational activities for their age group as well as their family members.

About a third of the class claimed to live within a ten minute walk of the park and many others were familiar with the park.  When asked how often they frequent the park, the overall consensus was rarely ever, with a general visitation rate of once a year.

Here is an abbreviated compilation of questions posed to the class and their responses. This was a pure brainstorming session, so everything that they said was written down.

Where do you hang out or play most of the time?

• Home  - (Big TV & Eating)
• Chuck E. Cheese
• Backyard
• Mall  - (Walking & Shopping)
• H2Oasis

What would attract you to a park?

• Areas to hang out
• Trees
• Football
• Skating
• Food-stand
• Castle
• Rocket Ship
• Pond
• Mud
• Foam Pit
• Ball Pit
• Sand Pit
• Sitting
• Basketball
• Soccer
• Baseball

What facilities promote gathering?

• BBQ / Grill
• Tables
• Benches
• Food
• Gazebo
• Petting Zoo
• Entertainment
• Movies
• Concerts
• Water Slides

What are wintertime activities and amenities that would add interest to the park?

• Shelter
• Warm-up-shelter
• Heated sidewalks
• Sledding
• Skating
• Fireplace
• Pizazz
• Lighting
• Sculptures
• Snow Piles
• Forts
• Tree House
• Video Games
• Hot Food
• Snowman

What are engaging activities or structures that might add interest to the park?

• Tower
• Tree House
• Construction
• Garden
• Flight Simulator
• Racing
• 4 Wheelers
• Go Kart Track
• BMX
• Musical features / instruments
• Exercise equipment
• Weight lifting equipment / objects
• Boxing

If designing a park for your younger siblings, what would you include?

• Teeter Totter
• Skateboarding
• Slide
• Toys
• Snowboard hill
• Bright Colors
• Area to run around
• Tire Swing
• Building for classes
• Rocket
• Games
• Train
• Play - do
• Puzzles
• Activities
• Sand Pit
• Horses
• Sledding
• Castle
• Tunnels / Mazes
• Bouncy house
• Wall Climbing / Bouldering

If you were to design a park for your age group (7&8th grade), what would you provide?

• Roller coaster
• Giant skateboard
• Castle
• Hamster ball
• Football field
• Something bright /  something dark
• Art studio
• Bowling alley
• Band studio
• Colorful objects and places
• Skatepark
• Basketball
• Play house with lots of windows
• Stage
• Arcade

If you were designing a park for Elders, what would you provide?

• Chess
• Chairs
• Benches
• Golf
• Shade
• Sidewalks
• Wheelchair  Access
• Food
• Library
• Activity Center

VIP Committee Looking for Volunteers

With an area of emphasis in the northwest corner, Russian Jack Springs Park has been officially approved by the Anchorage Parks & Recreation Department and the Anchorage Park Foundation for a park upgrade during the 2011 construction season.

Because the Parks & Recreation Department wishes the improvements and schedule to mesh with neighborhood desires, we ask the three adjacent Community Councils to nominate one representatives each (with an alternate so a representative can always attend) to serve on the north Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee.  The VIP Committee will be composed of 8 people to assist with decision-making and implementation of the park project.  The Very Important Park Committee will be composed of the following representatives:

• 4 park neighbors – parents with children ages 10 through 18 are encouraged
• 1 Community-wide Representative
• 1 representative from Russian Jack Community Council
• 1 representative from North East Community Council
• 1 representative from Mountain View Community Council

The VIP Committee job responsibilities are listed below.  Some tasks to be accomplished in the upgrade will be volunteer-powered.  The Very Important Park Committee Member’s job is to:

• Review project information gathered to date and give fresh consideration to: what is special about the park; what are identified needs for the park; and, what are remedies for concerns at the park.  Assist in identifying areas for improvements, review design options, make priority choices, given a fixed budget and scope.  (about 2,  2-hour meetings) The north Russian Jack Springs Park VIP meetings will be held at Williwaw Elementary on 2 nights (other meetings may be scheduled, based upon the Committee’s vision) December 6th and December 15th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
• Inform your Community Council of VIP Committee work – make consistent reports to your Community Council on action taken by the Committee;
•  Recruit neighborhood volunteers for the volunteer-powered part of the project and attend on the volunteer day; and
• Join in the celebration of the completed park project.
• For a full description of roles and responsibilities, please review the PDF document at this link (VIP Roles and Responsibilities) or you can access this file through our "Related Files" link in the upper right of this blog page.

Via the contact information below, please let us know about your VIP committee nominees and their contact information by December 3rd, 2010:

• Committee Member Name
• Committee Member Address
• Committee Member E-mail
• Committee Member Cell Phone # or best contact number if no cell phone

For questions about the VIP Committee and the 2011 north Russian Jack Springs Park projects, please feel free to contact Suzanne little at 343-4586 or e-mail at LittleSR@muni.org.

October 14 Parks and Rec Commission Meeting Summary

We provided an informational session for the Parks and Recreation Commission on October 14th. In addition to the information package that we supplied (click on this link), we provided them with a verbal summary of the process to date. We ended with two requests for guidance (as this was an informational session, only guidance was requested, not resolution of concurrence or support):

1. Based on the materials that we provided in their package, our summary, and their own knowledge, did they feel that we had met the goals established early in the process, and those that they feel we should have achieved by this point? There was a general consensus that we were on track and working our way through a good public outreach process. There was a desire that we begin to develop design materials that are more easily reviewed and commented upon.
2. With a recent resolution from the North East Community Council requesting a cease to any improvements prior to the completion of a Master Plan update, did they have any guidance for what we should do? Their guidance for this question was that we need to move forward ensuring that any potential improvements were consistent with existing Master Plan materials, that we clearly identify supportive and non-supportive cases, and overall that we continue to move forward with as much transparency as possible.

Additional guidance that they offered was:

1. Develop a project schedule that clearly shows official opportunities for the public to provide comment,
2. We remind the community that doing nothing is an option, and
3. That we remind the public that they are welcome to attend Parks and Recreation Commission meetings to make a non-agenda item appearance request (the next P&R Commission meeting is November 18th, at 6:00pm at the Spenard Recreation Center). These appearances are early in the agenda so they are convenient for the public to use.

(the above is our summary of the meeting, and the content or any assumed direction has not been approved by the Commission since as this was an informational session and no action was taken on their part)

Thank you for your comments! Post 7

Thank you for those that have posted comments so far, whether on our blog or via the comment collector. To share the comments from the collector, we will be compiling them and posting them generally within a week of receipt. Remember that for posting comments to the collector, we do need a first and last name (you can always request that it not be listed when we post them). If you would like a direct response, please provide a valid email or phone number. Responses will also be posted here if we are unable to get a hold of you. Here are more comments we've received to date:

The N. side of the the park is one of the most beautiful places in town. After you chase the bums out and repair the playgrounds, leave it alone. The only thing that north parcel really needs is better, more frequent ski grooming in the winter. - Shannon Gramse

I live near Russian Jack and would love to see it developed and maintained as an inviting recreation space. East Anchorage deserves a well cared for park. I love the idea of a winter terrain park designed for kids and would certainly appreciate trail/light renovations. Thanks for your work on this project. - name requested to be witheld

October 14 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting

We will be meeting with the Parks and Recreation Commission next Thursday, October 14^th to update them with a summary of the public outreach process to date. The public is welcome to attend.

September 16th NECC Meeting

The NECC held a meeting at which they passed a resolution that requested that any plans for improvements for north RJSP be delayed until after a Master Plan update is completed for Russian Jack Springs Park. Minutes are not available yet for specific wording of the resolution, but it should be something along the lines of: "We the Northeast Community Council respectfully ask that the APF, Corvus and Brooks and Associates cease any development until discussing a new Master Plan is coordinated with all communities in the region and proper notice can be sent out within a 1 mile distance of the entire boundary of Russian Jack Springs Park.” It is not confirmed, but the vote was believed to have been 10 in favor with 1 opposed.

Briefing Meeting - September 16th

On September 16th, we had a meeting with invited state legislators, community council presidents for Russian Jack and North East, the Mayor’s office, and others. Parks and Recreation Staff, Anchorage Park Foundation Staff, and Corvus Design and Brooks & Associates were present to provide an update on the public outreach process to date. A summary document was provided to them (available via our related files link).

A brief summary of the discussion was that the legislators who had secured the appropriation upon which this project is based supported the work to date, felt comfortable with the type and level of outreach, and wished to see the process move forward. This was echoed by others within the room, with the exception that the President of North East Community Council relayed the concerns of some of his constituents, and did not take a stance other than to relay these concerns (regarding a desire to have a Master Plan completed prior to any new work in the park). He also notified us that the community council had a resolution on its agenda for their meeting that evening that would demand a that a Master Plan be completed first.