Minutes - Parks and Recreation Commission - 07/30/2003 - Special

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Commissioner Shryock stated she sees a lot of the organized activities going on in the downtown commons. She stated she liked the picture in the downtown center space but the fact that they are a more rustic community; they are looking at a transition with the new building coming in. She explained she is looking at a more rustic building to bring the areas together with an open area where people can gather and listen to music. Ms. Bartels stated on the map by depressing an area and bringing it up, they have a non- programmed area for people to gather and the entire area could become performance whereas the downtown commons area is more of a water area. Commissioner Shryock stated another thing to keep in mind when planning this; they need to take into consideration attendance of people to the activities. It is trying to create the focal point and she does not know if in the commercial area, they will want to bring in music. She stated in the civic space, she could see some programming space but it would not be where people would want to sit for a long time. Ms. Bartels asked if the Commission would like the space to be used as an amphitheatre area. The Commission agreed. Commissioner Shryock stated she did not know if she wanted to see the open space to be so organized. She thought they would leave it open and unstructured. Chairperson Johns stated she thought an amphitheatre would be more of an unstructured area. Commissioner Ostrum stated they needed to look at each area separately. Commissioner Shryock stated if the amphitheatre was brought down instead of put on a hill, they may have problems with water. Ms. Bartels stated the open area could serve as a storm area in a two hundred year flood, they could put a picnic shelter in there and they could put a couple of different options in there. Parks/Utilities Supervisor Boos showed on the map the area where the amphitheatre could be located along with other activities. Chairperson Johns stated she thought there would be too many activities. Ms. Bartels stated these plans are really conceptual at this point. Chairperson Johns stated she did like the stone seating. Commissioner Ostrum stated when he has gone to parks with amphitheatres, they have formalized seating up front and then the rest is open area where people fill in. Park and Recreation Commission/July 30, 2003 Page 5 of 11