New Town Park designs shown to Snowmass Town Council
Courtesy photo/Town of Snowmass
Snowmass Parks, Recreation and Trails officials presented a handful of conceptual drafts of the Town Park Master Plan renovations to Town Council on Sept. 16.
The presentation aimed to spark council conversation and to help parks and recreation officials get an idea of which conceptual design they should pursue moving forward.
“These are conceptual designs, ideas that are drafts that can be tweaked as we go along,” said Andy Worline, director of Parks, Recreation and Trails.
As explained by Worline Sept. 16, these conceptual drafts were of the third and final phase of Town Park renovations, which started in the early 2000s with the construction of the current recreation center, pool, landscaping, Town Park Station and other park amenities.
The 2008 recession put the third phase of the plan, which Worline referred to as the “town park completion,” on hold. Now 11 years later, Parks, Recreation and Trails officials are working with Connect One Design to “complete” Town Park by more efficiently using the space and “creating a beautiful, engaging destination for locals of all ages,” according to planning documents.
“In this decades-long master planning process, we want this to be the finale and this to be the final master plan that needs to be done for the true completion of the park,” said Sara Tie with Connect One Design at the Sept. 16 council meeting.
Tie, Worline and Sarah McMahon, assistant Parks, Recreation and Trails director, helped explain each renovation plan to council Sept. 16. The plans were centered on three main goals: to reorient and refurbish the Snowmass Rodeo arena, create more sufficient parking and create more flat, multi-use recreational and event space.
Each of the five conceptual designs focused on different placements of Town Park components, like the Snowmass Rodeo lot and sports fields.
The fifth design, which has received the most support from Town Park stakeholders so far, was dubbed a “Frankenstein” option, as it combined some of the best aspects from the other plans into one.
This hybrid option would include a large area of continuous turf and about 80,000 more square feet of field space total; two entrances and exits to the Town Park area with about 520 total parking spaces; improved entrance aesthetic; and moving the Snowmass Rodeo farther toward the village where the softball field is now.
After each option was presented, Town Council expressed a few concerns about the large amount of paved parking along the village entryway, which Mayor Markey Butler referred to as “paving paradise,” and suggested looking into the feasibility of subsurface parking below the recreation field spaces.
Council members also encouraged planners to further look at how to make the Snowmass Rodeo area more multi-use, but expressed agreement with the general concept of the fifth design.
According to Parks, Recreation and Trails officials, they have held presentations similar to the one given to Town Council on Sept. 16 with other Town Park stakeholders, including the Parks, Open Space, Trails and Recreation Board and Snowmass Rodeo. On Sept. 17, officials met with Jazz Aspen Snowmass, and hope to meet with the Snowmass Club in the near future as well.
Tie said Connect One designers and Parks, Recreation and Trails officials hope to have draft plan and a final plan before council prior to or by November.
All five of the Town Park conceptual desgins can be found at tosv.com.
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