INDfamily

Horse Farm design enters final phase

by Leslie Turk

Concepts for design being unveiled now, but your input is still needed.

Lafayette Central Park's "It's My Park!" campaign continues throughout April and May with community forums focusing on visual preferences of the park, as well as final public input on the master plan.

On Dec. 17, the Lafayette City-Parish Council unanimously approved the resolution that included the list of programming items that could be included in the park, those deemed most important by area residents.

The first round of forums, in March, focused on Character Preference Surveys. Participants voted on the type of architectural style, landscape style and aesthetic preferences of park elements through image examples. There were two versions of the master plan, along with sections to visually depict what the plans could look like. The public voted on the plan it most preferred and was asked a series of questions via keypad polling to dial in on specific areas.

The second round of forums, which started this week, will be the culmination of all community input sessions to date. LCP is presenting the master plan with 3D perspectives and illustrative sections, confirming with the public that this is the direction it wants to see move forward. The public will also be asked to play a money game where it will be directed to prioritize expenditures of park elements.

"We had a tremendous turn-out in the programming phase, and we're hoping to see even more people at the upcoming workshops. These public meetings will be focused on the design of the park finalizing the master plan, helping us determine the best look and feel' of the landscape and the architecture, and also picking which park elements we build first," says EB Brooks, director of planning and design for LCP. "It's a great time to show up and share your vision."

All members of the public are encouraged to attend one of the second phase forums:

Wednesday, April 30

11 a.m. 1 p.m. at the Heymann Center Ballroom, 1373 South College Road

6 p.m. 8 p.m. at the Petroleum Club Ballroom, 111 Heymann Blvd.

Thursday, May 1

11 a.m. 1 p.m. at the Rosa Parks Transportation Center, 101 E. Cypress St.

6 p.m. 8 p.m. Martin Luther King Center, 309 Cora Street

Friday, May 2

11 a.m. 1 p.m. at the South Regional Library, Multi-Purpose Room, 6101 Johnston St.

Saturday, May 3

8 a.m. Noon at the Farmers' & Artisans' Market at the Horse Farm, 2913 Johnston St.

There is also an online survey for this week's workshops that will be active from May 1 14. Access it here.