About $1M for Gum Springs playground upgrades

• Roughly a third of the overall project budget is earmarked for a new playground.
• Council president Eric Jenkins noted last Monday that that was “quite a bit of money to spend on playground equipment” and wondered if any vandalism or other damage to it in the future would be covered by the city’s insurance.
• City Manager Doug Gerber said replacement or repair would be covered by insurance, minus the city’s deductible.

Other Gum Springs improvements are planned

• The remaining improvements are valued at roughly $2.4 million total.
• That includes resurfacing and widening of the park’s half-mile walking loop.
• The four baseball and softball fields will also be updated, with upgrades planned for the dugouts, fences and spectator seating areas.
• The restroom facilities at the park have already been upgraded.

Imagine Shawnee calls for more park upgrade projects

• Imagine Shawnee, the city’s first strategic plan drafted in 2020, identifies parks modernization and development as a key goal.
• The parks and recreation master plan, which is part of Imagine Shawnee, does suggest some upgrades could come to Erfurt Park, Garrett Park, the Shawnee Civic Centre, Herman Laird Park and Listowel Park. Other parks on the list for potential improvements are West Flanders Park and Stump Park.
• The undeveloped 110-acre Sand and Gravel Park in far western Shawnee is also mentioned as a potential growth area in the parks inventory.
• Last year, Shawnee gave the greenlight to roughly $1.2 million in other parks improvements.

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