Steamboat Creates has taken a leadership role to ensure that the re-imagining of West Lincoln Park is a top-quality, community-informed project. We have been actively collecting community input through a variety of ways including: suggestion boxes, recording current public use, polling school-aged children, gathering information from online petitions, social media pages, personal visits to adjacent neighborhoods and city meetings.

We also won a grant to bring state representatives from Downtown Colorado Inc. to facilitate a discussion between city staff, community members, project managers and community leaders.

We currently have an online survey as one more way for you to share your voice. This survey will be live until Nov. 30, 2018. This one more chance to influence the park that inspired Steamboat Springs’ namesake.

Please take the quick survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2wzpyhh so we can adequately represent community desires as we move into the design phase with community partners.

So far, there have been a variety of recommendations on particular play amenities ranging from musical instruments to water parks to soccer fields to nature elements. We understand that we will not be able to have a project that is all things to all people with the current budget and scope of work. But we want to do our best to make it unique and serve the Steamboat Springs community.

Some ideas we are hearing through community outreach is the importance of the natural springs, the river, access to the Yampa River Core Trail and maintaining open space at the western entrance to downtown. We have also heard that safety and accessibility is critical for families to be comfortable using the space. We have heard that shade and places to sit would make people more likely to stay for a while.

While the restoration of the Yampa River Queen is not possible, we look forward to “re-imagining”: the amenities to better serve our community and visitors. Our City Council and Parks and Recreation commissioners made it clear that we are to pursue a design that incorporates a “boat” theme, has active play for all ages as well as a shelter that protects people from the elements.

Are we on track? If not, take the survey. Printed copies of the survey are also available at the Depot Art Center, 1001 13th St.

Kim Keith

Executive director of Steamboat Springs Arts Council and Steamboat Creates