NOTN- City officials unveiled plans for the Jackie Renninger Park and invited the public to a Park Day over the weekend to review the design and give feedback.
Parks and Recreation Director Mark and Chris of Corvus Design say the plan fits many features into about five acres: eight pickleball courts, a covered street‑style skate park to replace an aging pipeline structure, the city’s first covered playground, a dog park, restrooms, a community gathering space for food carts and events, a loop fitness trail, a small multi‑use court, and disc golf.
“We’ve actually been working on the park design for about three years, starting off with a master planning effort and a pretty robust public involvement process. It’s a lot going into a five-acre park.” Said Chris.
Saturday’s open house, community barbecue and comment period aimed to explain the importance of recreation opportunities in what Mark called an underserved area of Juneau.
“It’s really big for quality of life for all of us here in Juneau to have those recreation spaces, those park spaces, but it’s also great for property values.” Mark said, “Getting people active and involved is better for health and better for the economy in lots of ways. When we look at the whole of Juneau, it’s pretty underserved in terms of parks, so we really want to spread parks all around our community.”
Pro skaters Kanten Russell and Brandon Turner also attended, leading an open skate and skate competition.
Chris and Mark say skilled concrete work and securing funding are the biggest challenges ahead.