SEBASTIAN – The Sebastian Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee would like to see signs installed marking the city’s various neighborhood parks, members decided Monday.
Committee member Matthew Sims asked about installing signs at various parks, including Hardee, which he said he’s driven by numerous times not knowing which park it was.
He said he’d also like to see a sign installed at the Skate Park.
The committee received an update on various projects the city is working on to improve different parks, including Schumann Park and the Sebastian Skate Park.
The restroom at Schumann Park will be replaced and the old one removed, while the shed that serves as the office at the Skate Park will be replaced.
“It will be one right after the other,” Public Works Supervisor Linda Kinchen said of the construction projects.
Both are expected to begin within the next few weeks after permits are approved.
The new structures will be designed in the “Florida Vernacular” style with porches and cupolas.
City Manager Al Minner said the city opted for the architectural design “instead of just an ugly block building” for the restroom project.
The playground at Schumann Park will be relocated to make room for the new restroom, which will be built from the ground up. Once the new restroom’s construction is complete, the old facility will be demolished.
The Skate Park office, which is actually a storage shed, will be removed to make way for a small 15-foot-by-10-foot office building. The structure will have a porch that will help conceal the vending machines and clutter from Barber Street.
“You won’t have soda machine lane there with cans lying about,” Minner said.
Visitors to the Skate Park will have to walk past the office in order to gain access to the fenced park.
Where the shed currently sits, the city plans to add shrubs and “green it up,” according to Minner.
The Parks and Recreation Department has $25,000 in its budget allocated for Hardee Park, which could be used for upgrading the playground equipment there or for revamping the walking/jogging trail.
The committee opted to move forward with the playground, noting that they like the current trail and would rather not have it blacktopped.
“We’re not taking any trees out,” Kinchen told the committee members when asked if the new playground would require the removal of any trees.
Kinchen said that the city would locate the playground in a clear area so as to avoid cutting down trees.
Sebastian resident Jim Sunnycalb asked the committee to consider a plaque to recognize the Sebastian Lions Club recent donation of a three-tiered drinking fountain for Riverview Park.
The club purchased the more than $3,000 fountain to serve dogs, the handicapped and the able-bodied.
Minner said that the fountain would be installed near the restroom facility at the park and that the city would figure out a way to recognize the Lions Club’s gift.
