ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — From pools and pickleball to basketball and tennis to disc golf and nature walks, Asheville parks have a lot to offer the communities they serve.

At its Aug. 27 meeting, Asheville City Council adopted Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks, a 10-year vision plan built by community members to guide the city’s parks and recreation decisions. The plan identifies which recreation spaces need the most work, which projects will be most beneficial and strategies to keep the Asheville Parks & Recreation system in great shape for the community.

“We are thrilled with this roadmap that will help plan, build and maintain public spaces in smarter and more beneficial ways,” Parks and Recreation Director D. Tyrell McGirt said in a news release. “There will always be general maintenance and emergency repairs with a parks and recreation system as vast and aging as Asheville’s, but the Recreate Asheville plan allows us to use highly reliable data from surveys, workshops and events coupled with the current state of the system to plan for short and long-term projects that our community deserves. We heard it loud and clear: give the most people the most access to recreation programs and spaces. And we will use our community’s input to do just that.”

Prioritizing projects allows equitable due diligence for planning, funding and delivering great community investments rather than reacting to well-resourced special interest groups and connected individuals, the news release said. While many community members said they love the city’s existing parks, they are also ready to build the foundation of an APR system to serve modern needs for the next 10, 50 and even 90 years.

SEE THE PLAN HERE

According to the news release, residents’ desired parks and recreation priority projects and programs were identified and incorporated into the Recreate Asheville plan through a number of ways, including:

  • Statistically valid survey mailed to homes citywide for 95% accurate and reliable results
  • Public open survey online and at events
  • Workshops
  • Focus groups
  • Listening sessions
  • Pop-up events

That information was combined with anticipated future needs and comparisons to similarly sized cities’ parks and recreation systems to define Asheville’s needs.

The Recreate Asheville plan is also essential to grant opportunities and partnerships to implement projects and programs. Asheville voters also have the opportunity to approve $20 million in general obligation bonds during the upcoming election. If approved, bonds will fund many of the Phase 1: Short Term (1-4 year) projects prioritized in the plan.

What’s in the plan?

Recreate Asheville Phase 1: Short Term (1-4 Years) Projects:

  • 6 major existing park upgrades or redevelopment projects at Burton Street, Malvern Hills, Murray Hill, Recreation, Roger Farmer and Walton Street parks
  • 2 major community center redevelopment projects at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Tempie Avery Montford community centers
  • 1 new neighborhood park on Sweeten Creek Road
  • 2 new major or special use facilities including a pickleball complex and an aquatic facility
  • Address significant deferred maintenance across the system

Recreate Asheville includes short-, medium- and long-term goals encompassing various programs and projects:

  • Programming: Prioritizing recreational activities and events
  • Maintenance: Addressing existing park infrastructure needs
  • Upgrades: Renovating current parks
  • Redevelopment: Transforming existing community and recreation centers
  • New parks: Building new neighborhood parks
  • Special amenities: Developing major, unique park features

The plan outlines five key focus areas for strategic investment:

  • Steward and maintain parks for all
  • Access and connectivity
  • Community health and wellness
  • Gathering and placemaking
  • Resilient natural environments

Investment zones were identified based on geographic areas with the most needs based on such factors as equity, condition, size, people served and park experiences.

Keep the conversation going

Asheville residents are urged to join McGirt for one-on-one or small group conversations during casual “Park Bench Chats” over the next few months.

“We believe that our parks and recreation system is strongest when it reflects the needs and desires of our community,” McGirt said in the news release. “I had many wonderful conversations during workshops as part of grassroots engagement building the Recreate Asheville plan, so we’ve designed quarterly Park Bench Chats events as a natural extension to keep the conversation going in relaxed settings.”

CLICK HERE to sign up for a 20-minute slot up to 45 days before each date. Drop-ins may be accommodated if time allows.

  • 8-11 a.m. Oct. 4 at Burton Street Community Center, 134 Burton Str.
  • 3-6 p.m. Jan. 13at Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Drive
  • 5-8 p.m. April 9 at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Road

With its oldest parks dating to the 1890s, Asheville Parks & Recreation staff manages a unique collection of more than 65 public parks, playgrounds and open spaces throughout the city in a system that also includes full-complex recreation centers, swimming pools, Riverside Cemetery, sports fields and courts, and community centers.