Sheldon, Iowa — The City of Sheldon held two public meetings Thursday in order to gain community input on a proposed new city park to be located in the area of the Crossroads Pavilion Event Center.
The Thursday afternoon community open house was designed to familiarize Sheldon residents with the original Master Plan, which had been put together by RDG Planning and Design. RDG had a display at the community open house consisting of pictures representing a wide range of park amenities for people to view.
The Thursday evening session was billed as a community workshop, offering community members the opportunity to voice their opinions and ideas about what the community park should look like. Walking trails were a near unanimous choice in the process, with restrooms and shelters next in line.
Results of surveys done in the Sheldon Community Schools were also reported at the community workshop. The 7th and 8th grade survey received responses from 174 students. They reported that four of the most significant responses were in favor of a dog park, bike trail and use of the pond, along with basketball and volleyball courts and a splash pad. In another survey, elementary students listed about 35 different amenities they would like to see.
RDG will now compile the information they’ve received and return to Sheldon with a rough draft of how the new park could look, returning sometime in January to present the proposal at another community meeting. Then, input received at the January meeting will be worked into the final concepts of the plan. When the final plan is completed, RDG representatives will return for another community meeting, sometime in March. RDG hopes to have the plans finalized by sometime in June.
During Thursday evening’s workshop, RDG’s representative stressed to the attendees that this project should be treated like a neighborhood park. It should be user friendly and it should not be overloaded with amenities, leaving adequate green space for people to enjoy.
Below are a few images from Thursday’s meetings:
