GETTING THE HANG OF THINGS. Zipping along at the Carson Park playground, one of numerous amenities in Eau Claire's city parks.

The City of Eau Claire is blessed with a plethora of parks – nearly 50 of them – which encompass more than 1,200 acres and range from large community gathering places with multiple amenities (such as Carson Park) to more than a dozen neighborhood playgrounds. There are many miles of bike trails, urban plazas, boat landings, a swimming pool, outdoor ice rinks, untamed wooded acres, and plenty more.

To help guide efforts to improve, maintain, and even expand Eau Claire’s recreational system, the city is in the midst of creating a new Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (CORP). It’s a once-every-five-year process during which the city reassesses all of its parks to see if they meet the needs of the community, said Steve Plaza, the city’s parks manager.

“I want to see where we can improve our system,” Plaza said. “Where are their underserved areas? Where are there locations in the city where we could add a park?”

With the help of Ayres Associates, city officials are gathering input on everything from park amenities and recreational programs to walking trails and accessible restrooms. Ayres, an Eau Claire-based engineering and consulting firm, has been seeking input via an online survey as well as focus groups and public events, and plans to have a presence at the Downtown Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 14.

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I want to see where we can improve our system. Where are their underserved areas? Where are there locations in the city where we could add a park?

STEVE PLAZA

EAU CLAIRE PARKS DIRECTOR

Chris Silewski, a landscape architect with Ayres, is helping with the process. “People love the parks,” Silewski said. “Everyone thinks that they are fantastic and awesome, and are a gem of the community. They value them very highly.”

However, that doesn’t mean park users don’t have lots of feedback. That’s why the online survey asks a number of questions about what park users like – and don’t like – about the city’s public spaces.

“We want to know specifically what they value and why they value it and what improvements need to be made to the park system to help those values,” Silewski said.

In general, Silewski said he’s heard from residents that access to parks and waterways is important, but so is awareness of how to access these resources, and what resources are available in the first place. For example, where can a dog owner bring Fido to run freely? Where can a disc golfer find a course? What parks have playgrounds or pickleball courts?

Public input will be combined with a study of the parks themselves to create a usability index and a score for each park. This data can then be used to determine what park projects can be added to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.

The study process is expected to wrap up by November. After that, a draft plan will have to be submitted to and approved and adopted by both the city’s Waterways and Parks Commission and the City Council.

But before then, Silewski is hoping to gather more input from those who use – and pay for – the parks. “We want to get as much feedback as possible so we can understand more,” he said.

To take the community survey for the Eau Claire Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, visit surveymonkey.com/r/EauClaireCORP. You can also reach out directly to Chris Silewski at Ayres Associates at SilewskiC@AyresAssociates.com.