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Macomb unveils a new look for Chandler Park

The park's entrance arch.
Rich Egger
/
TSPR
The park's entrance arch.

A newly unveiled master plan would change the layout of Chandler Park in downtown Macomb with the goal of making it more user-friendly.

“It (the park) is really a gem for the city of Macomb,” said Amy Wilson, a landscape architecture practice leader for Peoria-based Farnsworth Group, which developed the plan.

She said the idea is to improve the park for all the ways it’s used, whether for Heritage Days, the Farmers’ Market, or just everyday use.

“It is a definite main community gathering space in the downtown. It’s not often that a city has green space in a downtown area,” Wilson said.

“We wanted to maintain that, preserve that, but also help it to function better for the future.”

A more organized park

The suggested changes include:

  • Removing the gazebo and replacing it with a performance shelter in the northeast part of the park
  • Moving all the monuments, including the veterans’ memorial, to the west side of the park
  • Replacing the brick sidewalks that form an X through the park with concrete sidewalks that have the same window pane pattern that’s used on the courthouse square
  • Creating an oval internal circulation path
  • Building a new water feature in the central plaza.
  • Removing the existing water fountain
  • Creating a fenced-in play area east of the central plaza, moving the existing concrete play sculptures to a mulched area under an existing tree canopy, and creating a new accessible play area

The farmers’ market and Heritage Days vendor areas would be to the south and east on the perimeter.

The majority of the park’s trees would remain, but three would be relocated and four would be removed, one of which is an invasive species.

Wilson said the plan makes the park a little more organized.

“One of the things that we discovered as we studied the park and we studied how the park is used, is that over time as the park has developed and kind of been used in different ways, it doesn’t have a defined program and function. It looks just a little hodge-podge, if you will,” she said.

The master plan developed by Farnsworth Group is not set in stone.
Farnsworth Group
/
courtesy image
The master plan developed by Farnsworth Group is not set in stone.

Creating a better performance space

Wilson said the gazebo is small and is not ADA accessible. The performance shelter would be larger, ADA compliant, and include audio and lighting systems.

“It would allow for larger performances, better sightlines,” she said.

The performance shelter will be designed to look like it’s always been part of the park. Public restrooms will be built into the back of the structure.

There will be a concrete area in front of the stage where people can set up chairs.

The park will continue to have grass areas with picnic tables. The memorial benches will remain along the sidewalks.

The water feature in the central plaza won’t be a splash pad, but Wilson said it will have at-grade water jets that people can interact with.

Wilson said the master plan is a guide for the next five to ten years. Nothing is set in stone.

“This is a concept. This is a vision for the park. And it’s an outline for the program for the future of it,” she said.

‘Hitting it out of the park’

The estimated cost of the Chandler Park master plan is $3.2 million. The city hopes to pay for much of the work with grant funding.

Mayor Mike Inman said having a plan in place will help with that.

“It is a process from start to finish, that’s the way government works, good, bad or otherwise. And the process is best when we have a good foundation,” he said.

Inman was initially concerned about trying to create a master plan for Chandler Park because so many groups with different interests use the park.

He thinks Farnsworth Group did a great job of addressing as many concerns as possible and implementing input.

“It’s a dramatic change in some respects, but in many respects it’s not. It’s incorporating many of the aspects of existing Chandler Park, reconfiguring them to be much more user-friendly,” he said.

He especially likes the idea of placing all the monuments in a single area.

“I think that really is hitting it out of the park, no pun intended, I guess,” he said.

Inman said the plan will move the park into the future while still recognizing and appreciating its past.

Get the ball rolling

The city council will need to approve the concept. Once that happens, the city can get the ball rolling.

“I’ve said that this is not a plan that’s going to sit on the shelf and get dusty,” Inman said.

When it comes time to do the work, the city might need to shut down the park for a year. Inman believes it’s best to get it done all at once.

“I think we do it one and done. If we can do that, that’s what we should plan for,” the mayor said

He said the cost could rise if try to spread the work out over several years.

He said it will take time to win grants and finalize details. But he believes that within three to five years, the Chandler Park project will be completed.

Chandler Park has been part of downtown Macomb for more than a century.

Macomb businessman C.V. Chandler donated the site to the city, and the park was established in 1893.

Nine companies submitted bids to create the new master plan. Farnsworth Group won with a bid of $48,260 plus normal reimbursable expenses.

The firm gathered input in three ways: during a public design workshop, followed by one-on-one stakeholder interviews, and through an online survey.

Tri States Public Radio produced this story.  TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.