PLANK HILL PLANS. Formal public discussion on what changes could occur in Plank Hill park took place on April 18.

Residents of Eau Claire’s Eastside Hill Neighborhood gathered April 18 at Spirit Lutheran Church to discuss potential changes to Plank Hill and offer their opinions. There were 38 people in attendance eager to hear more and share their input.

Plank Hill is an undeveloped stretch of land in the Eastside Hill neighborhood. The hill is bordered by Forest Hill Cemetery and Harding Avenue and includes a popular sledding hill in the winter.

Chris Silewski, a landscape architecture supervisor at Ayres Associates, a local planning and development company, introduced himself and the goal of the meeting. Silewski previously worked with the city on Boyd Park, which is also within the neighborhood.

“Where we are at in the planning process is the ‘collect phase,’ so we’re collecting ideas,” Silewski said. “I will be coming back to everyone with concepts later on, but today it’s all about conversation.”

Silewski encouraged everyone to get out of their chairs and move to the front of the room where he had set up five poster boards with different interactive ways for the viewers to give further input. At this point no funding has been accrued for Plank Hill so the project is only in the planning phase.

The boards all offered different brainstorming activities for community members to share what they absolutely did or did not want for Plank Hill. Discussions were kept to person by person conversations instead of the large group.

Some major points marked on multiple boards and conversations were respecting the nature already there. Numerous attendees wanted to leave the area natural, hoping paths would only be buffed out instead of paved.

In terms of additions, ideas circulate of educational signage, accessible walking paths, and a potential observation tower at the top of the hill to overlook the space and the great city of Eau Claire.

Some attendees were worried about construction on the hill, damaging trees and causing potential landslides if root systems were altered.

Ayres is currently using the poster boards to design initial plans for Plank Hill, which will be reported back to the neighborhood. The company will return later this year with a potential proposal the neighborhood can discuss and finalize.

To keep up to date on future Plank Hill planning meetings or just Eau Claire’s Eastside Hill neighborhood go to eastsidehill.com.