Asheville council adopts 10-year Parks and Rec plan. What are the top priorities?

ASHEVILLE - The city adopted a new 10-year plan for Parks and Recreation Aug. 27 with the aim to build and preserve recreation citywide, and priorities that include new aquatics facilities and dedicated pickleball courts.

“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 an August news release.

Top of the list in the plan, among Phase 1 project priorities, are two new major facilities — a pickleball complex, with eight to 10 courts; and an aquatic facility — plus reinvesting in six system parks and two community centers, addressing deferred maintenance and the development of a recently acquired property on Sweeten Creek Road.

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

"This is the type of stuff that builds community ... you remember those places that you had that moment with your family," said council member Maggie Ullman. "That's what we're building and that's not something that you should monetize. That should be a public service and it's so important and so special, and we have amazing parks."

While there was some frustration from pickleballers who, though supportive of the plan, felt the fight for dedicated courts had dragged on too long, Christina Dupuch, president of the Asheville Pickleball Association, offered emphatic thanks to both council and the parks department during public comment.

"Tonight, for us, it was a historical moment to see that bullet on that slide that said, ‘dedicated pickleball courts,'" she said.

Pickleball players have been calling for their own courts for years, often squaring off with tennis players around the city's outdoor, public courts. There are 11 public tennis courts in the city, each dual-lined for pickleball, making for 22 courts.

Asheville City Council approved a $238,000 contract with Design Workshop Inc. for development of the comprehensive plan in March. "Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City's Parks," the 172-page draft plan released June 20, can be found on the city's website: https://publicinput.com/recreateasheville.

The plan will also guide future bond spending. The city is considering an $80 million general obligation bond package, with upward of $20 million dedicated to Parks and Recreation. In order to pass, voters will take it up on the November ballot.

If approved, bonds will fund many of the Phase 1 projects, the release said.

More: Asheville's draft 10-year parks plan prioritizes more pickleball, pools and new parks

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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on X, formerly Twitter, at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville adopts 10-year Parks and Rec plan. What's the top priority?