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Atlantic City Council hears Public Gardens proposal

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January 17th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday night, received a presentation from Courtney Long, ISU Extension Community Design Lab, in Ames, and Atlantic Parks and Recreation Director Seth Staashelm, with regard to information gathered by the local Public Gardens Group.

Long gave a brief overview of the program. She said they started with a goal of creating opportunities for people to accept healthy food options and increase recreation. There were various public input sessions, and in the end, the group chose Mollet Park on the east end of 3rd Street Place, and Cedar Park, near 2nd and Cedar Streets, just west of the downtown area.

Seth Staashelm (left); Courtney Long (foreground)

The least developed area is Mollet Park, which Staashelm described to the Council. He said the design group came up with some ideas for upgrades. That includes making updates to the end of the drive, which is now a cul-de-sac, implementing community gardens with raised beds that could be rented by citizens or community groups for donation of vegetables to the Food Pantry or Farmers Market.

The Council however, seemed more interested in improvements to Cedar Park, which has the benefit of being close to the Schildberg Recreation Area, and downtown. Staashelm said it does have more to offer, and is a viable option.  A cost analysis for either or both parks has not officially been conducted, but Staashelm estimated Mollet Park would cost $25-to 35-thousand dollars to upgrade. Councilman Dana Halder said “We need to go back to our priorities, and talk about restrooms,” which are needed at the Schildberg Rec Area.

He said, “As far as the two parks, my opinion is, do one. Mollet is easy to mow. You put more up..and there’s more maintenance to do. If you want to go to Cedar Park, fine. My recommendation would be [to] buy the junk that’s to the south of it, and expand it that way. As far as [a proposed splash pad], why not put it at the pool?”

Courtney Long the reason they decided against having it at the Sunnyside Pool, is because some of the groups they spoke with, didn’t have access to paying to get in, so they’re looking at this as a public opportunity to have similar amenities. Staashelm said they’re budgeting for 2020 to update the new basketball court at Cedar Park and updating in general, both parks. The Public Gardens planning is just a long-term part of those improvements, which are still many years down the road. No action was taken on any of the concepts at Wednesday night’s meeting.