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Second Street Park's future questionable
City officials are beginning a process to discuss the future of a city-owned park.
During the Fort Scott City Commission meeting Tuesday, City Manager Dave Martin said a commissioner had previously approached him about possibly selling Second Street Park, also known as Bridal Veil Park, located in the northwest part of the city. Martin said there is much history behind the park and there are "a lot of emotions tied to it."
Martin stressed that "this will not happen overnight" and asked permission from the commission to check into the feasibility of selling the park. Martin said he wants to get feedback from the community, local historians and others who might have an interest in the park.
"I'm asking permission to go forth and start talks," Martin said. "We have a lot of parks. We have to take care of it and it's not utilized as much."
Martin also said there is "a lot of police activity" at the park. The city could possibly save some money by not having to maintain the park.
Martin discussed the issue with the Tribune Wednesday.
"A commissioner approached me and wanted me to think about maybe doing away with Second Street Park, since we have so many different parks, and new parks," he said. "My job is, when commissioners come to me with a situation, to look at it and evaluate it."
Martin said he has also been approached by citizens on the matter.
"I've had more and more people talking to me about it," he said. "What I wanted to get direction from the commission about, is that something you want to look at pursuing or do you have no desire to do that?"
Commissioner Jim Adams said during Tuesday's meeting the park currently only features a few concrete tables, some park benches and picnic tables.
"There's not much there," he said.
As far as a timeline for a decision on the park's future, Martin stressed the process is likely to move slowly. He plans to have conversations with some people to determine a future direction.
"There are certain groups of people, about two or three, that I'll sit down with and talk and get feedback," Martin said. "I will try to reach out to a few groups. It will not be anytime soon."
One group Martin said he has visited with is the Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County. He said after talking with the HPA, "they don't see that it would be a problem" as long as the city works to "maintain the integrity of the park."
"We don't want to let a piece of history become a field for someone else to own," he said.
Martin also emphasized the vote Tuesday by the commission was "not a vote to get rid of it (the park)."
"We will pursue talks and look at the feasibility," he said.
Another reason Martin has given for possibly selling the park is the flooding that occurs in the area during heavy rains.
"The biggest thing for me is the labor and there's a lot of vandalism," he said. "It's also on the outskirts of town and kind of hard to oversee. There are also flooding issues."
Martin said personally, he doesn't have a stance on the issue. He said he wanted to bring the issue up now in order to be transparent.
"I just want to hear from people at this point," he said. "We want to make sure to talk to all groups of people and start the dialogue. I didn't want to go down the road if the commission didn't want to talk about it. I'm neutral on it at this point. It's all about transparency. I didn't want it to come up down the road that we're going to do this ... this is so the commission can make an informed decision. It's a citizen park
"We want to make sure we get the history side of it, that we hear those sides, and that everybody that's involved with that gets a chance to tell us their side. And we want to be sure citizens have felt like they've had a voice if we pursue it.
"There has to be more of a reason than just the city doesn't want to take care of it."