Last night was the first community workshop for the 35-acre park currently known as 'Western Park.' It was a great start to the planning process and we seem to be headed in the right direction. The goal of the workshops (there will be more) is to generate ideas and input for the park plan from residents of Old Trail, Crozet, and Albemarle County.
The overwhelming concensus from last night's attendees was to keep the park as natural as possible. Though there will be amenities and structures in the park, everyone thought that since this is such a beautiful piece of land that we needed to keep the natural aspects of the park and integrate the amenities so that we do not disturb the beauty and views.
There were some great ideas - a pavilion, natural amphitheatre, trails, learning centers, open/multi-purpose athletic fields, a fountain...just to name a few.
Albemarle County and the park planners are now taking the feedback from last night's session and are devising a preliminary master plan. This is expected to take 6-7 weeks...when it will be presented in another community workshop.
Parking was one concern that came up a few times - I think it'd be nice if we can somehow minimize the parking on the actual park and utilize the nearby parking lots of the pool and village center. It would be a shame to have a parking lot on this great piece of land.
This will be a fantastic amenity not just for Old Trail residents, but for all of Albemarle County.
I'll be sure to keep everyone posted as to when the next workshop/meeting will be.
