Prien Lake Park Development Task Force:

Report to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury

Introduction

This is a report to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury on behalf of the 16 members of the Prien Lake Park Development Task Force, so appointed on August 1, 2002.  The Task Force was established as a result of a 20-acre purchase of property by the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury adjacent to the existing seven-acre Prien Lake Park, located in Calcasieu Parish.  The following members of the public were requested by the Police Jury to represent different perspectives, as noted, regarding the expansion of Prien Lake Park.

1.         Mr. Frank Pruitt – Park Vicinity Residents

2.         Mr. Scott Moffett – Park Vicinity Residents

3.         Mr. Rusty Vincent – Coastal Conservation Association

4.         Ms. Harriet Green – Senior Citizen

5.         Mr. Jeff Armentor – General Recreation Interest

6.         Mr. Mike Dees – SWLA Convention and Visitors Bureau

7.         Mr. David Booth – Environmental and Nature

8.         Ms. Jane Dufrene – Economic Development

9.         Mr. J.D. Allen – Planning and Transportation

10.       Mr. Steve Wood – Industry

11.       Mr. George Clyde – Education

12.       Ms. Kay Barnett – At-Large Position

13.       Mr. Anthony Biagas – At-Large Position

14.       Mr. Dennis Husers – At-Large Position

15.       Mr. Glenn Pumpelly – At-Large Position

16.              Mr. Charles Liggio, Sr. – At-Large Position

The Prien Lake Park Development Task Force met six times as a group with Calcasieu Parish’s Division of Planning and Development, Division of Engineering and Public Works, Administration staff, facilitator, Karen Fernandez, and participatory Police Jurors.[1]  The fifth meeting also included the public providing an opportunity for the Task Force to publicly report their findings and for the public to comment or ask questions about their activities thus far.  The sixth meeting (held on February 25, 2003) specifically reviewed public input and this report to the Police Jury.  This report includes the mission and goals of the Task Force, information provided and used to meet Task Force mission and goals, consensus-based objectives, recommended park elements, park themes, comments, questions and replies resulting from the public meeting and the next steps in the planning process.

Prien Lake Park Development Task Force Mission and Goals

As requested by the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and interpreted by the Parish Planning and Development staff, the facilitator and the Task Force members, the following list represents the mission and goals of the Prien Lake Park Development Task Force.

1.                  To work as an advisory task force to assist the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and staff in the process for developing Prien Lake Park.

2.         To work toward reaching a consensus in recommending an appropriate theme and program elements (i.e. picnic, trail, water activities).

3.         To provide the Police Jury with input on developing a Request for Proposals for park designers.

4.         To provide the Police Jury with input on the design proposals.

5.                  Without providing a physical design, to give park designers an overall idea or conceptual framework of a fully developed Prien Lake Park.

Information Learned and Utilized

Park Examples

The Task Force viewed a presentation of existing and proposed Calcasieu Parish parks and their uses, and several waterfront park examples found in Louisiana and throughout the southeastern United States.  The purpose of reviewing park examples was to offer insight to possible uses and elements for Prien Lake Park.  The currently developed seven-acre Prien Lake Park offers boat launching, pavilion renting, barbecuing, and picnicking. 

In addition to Prien Lake Park, there are 21 other parish parks and 15 locations to launch boats.  The parish parks vary in their provisions, but many offer camping, picnicking, barbecuing and use of pavilions.  LaFleur Park or the 210 Beach is the only public beach access provided by the parish.  Mallard Junction Park is the only parish park with basketball courts. 

The LNG Boat Launch, currently under Phase One of construction, is located at the intersection of the Industrial Canal and the Intracoastal Waterway.  This boat launch is expected to draw some launching activities away from other launching areas such as Prien Lake Park and LaFleur Park, as well as serving the growing demand for such uses in the area.  The LNG Boat Launch plans include a fishing pier and appropriate parking. 

A park is included as part of a private venture in conjunction with the proposed the Pinnacle Riverboat Casino project.  This project is proposed to cover 225 to 300 acres and is located close to Prien Lake Park.  There is to be a 1,000-room hotel, a 10,000 square-foot spa, two to three pools with a lazy river concept, five restaurants, small conference and meeting facilities, retail, an 18-hole golf course, six to eight waterfront residential condominiums, and temporary docking facilities.  There are no plans for a marina. The target permitting and construction start date is for Spring 2003 followed by 18 to 24 months of construction.

Several different types and sizes of parks across the country were reviewed.  A large-scale park example incorporating multiple uses is the 48,000-acre Ross Barnett Reservoir in the Jackson area of Mississippi.  The reservoir provides 48 parks with camping, boating, fishing, hiking, hunting, organized sports complexes, golf, and a water park, serving about 2.5 million people per year.

A predominantly commercial park example is the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas, less than 30 miles from Houston (shown right).  The boardwalk is a 35-acre complex of entertainment, including a marina, restaurants, meeting facilities, hotels, shopping, and an amusement park. 

 In Shreveport, Louisiana, the Shreveport Riverfront Park (shown left) boasts a 5.5-acre park hugging the banks of the Red River and serving city residents, employees and visitors to the adjacent entertainment district.  Weekday users are joggers, and downtown employees eating lunch and taking breaks.  Weekend use is often programmed for weddings or festivals such as the Red River Revel Arts Festival, hosting over 200,000 people per year.

More locally known is Louisiana’s 1,087-acre Sam Houston Jones State Park, just 12 miles from downtown Lake Charles (shown right).  In addition to the two boat launches, the park provides lodging, camping, fishing, boating, birding, hiking and picnicking.

Sugar Creek Greenway is located in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, in Mecklenburg County.  This greenway is actually a concrete trail used by pedestrians or cyclists, serving residents, city employees and patients of the Carolina’s

Medical Center.  There are plans to extend this greenway throughout Charlotte and beyond.

A southeastern Louisiana park, Fairview-Riverside State Park in Madisonville is a one-hour drive from New Orleans.  Located along the Tchefuncte River, Fairview offers many uses including fishing by pier, boardwalk, or boat, nearby boat launching, water skiing, tent or trailer camping and museum tours.

Also in Louisiana, Caney Creek Lake State Park in Chatham is found east of Jonesboro, on the Caney Lake Reservoir.  This park has a variety of uses including boating and water skiing, camping and picnicking, biking and hiking, and swimming from a sandy beach.

Community Park Planning

To initiate brainstorming, Task Force members were asked to consider various park elements.  Park elements were defined as a list of uses that will be provided and what experiences can be accommodated within the park.  The different types of uses may be categorized as active, passive, or commercial uses.  An active use implies an activity that demands physical effort as the major experience, while passive uses are less physical and perhaps more social.  Activities with more emphasis on salability, profit or success exemplify commercial uses.

It was important to think about the implications of each use.  For instance, a passive use such as a walking trail implies the need for a certain amount of space necessary for the trail, a decision on the materials that the trail is made of, and identifying the amenities that trail walkers may need (i.e. parking, restrooms, water fountains, benches, etc.).  Combining other uses is also a consideration.  With both boat launching and fishing available, there would need to be a separate fishing pier to avoid interference with boaters.  To allow both passive and active uses, there would need to be a buffer between them.

Another issue of park planning for the Task Force to consider is zoning.  The additional 20 acres is zoned Neighborhood, indicating that a zoning change or variance from the city of Lake Charles will likely be necessary to implement a future park design.

reaching A consensus

In order to meet the mission and goals of the Task Force, it was important to provide an understanding of how to reach consensus-based decisions, and to establish agreed upon objectives.  Consensus building is a cooperative approach that results in a legitimate decision that is “acceptable enough” to be supported by all task force members.  A legitimate decision is based upon a clear and group decided purpose and objective, quality information and something that can realistically be implemented.

Task Force Objectives

With a clear understanding of consensus building and the natural cooperation exercised by the Task Force, the members agreed upon six objectives, which follow.

1.                  To develop Prien Lake Park as Calcasieu Parish’s premier park for all residents and visitors to Calcasieu Parish.

2.                  To develop Prien Lake Park in a complementary manner to existing parks and new developments (i.e. Pinnacle, Wetland Discovery Center) within Calcasieu Parish.

3.                  To develop Prien Lake Park in a manner that maximizes to the greatest extent possible, the view of Prien Lake from the waterfront and within the park.

4.                  To develop Prien Lake Park with substantial landscaping representing native species of the area.

5.                  To develop the current property owned by Calcasieu Parish without precluding future expansion of land to the south side of Henderson Bayou Road for future expansion of Prien Lake Park.

6.                  To develop Prien Lake Park amenities so that a mix of uses/park elements can be accommodated -- not to be limited by the existing park facilities (i.e., buildings, parking layout, entrance/exit).

Park Elements

Different park elements had already been discussed, but no consensus decisions had been made.  It became evident that there was a need to define each use so that all of the members would have the same understanding of the use’s meaning.  For instance, what is the difference between a dockside café and a full-scale restaurant or between a nature trail and a multi-purpose trail?  With each of the uses defined, the Task Force formulated a consensus-based list of park elements consisting of active, passive, commercial and undesired uses.  The list of recommended elements as well as the necessary definitions and disclaimers explaining the uses is shown in Table 1 titled “Proposed Prien Lake Park Elements” on the following page.

Park Theme

The Task Force was also asked to establish a theme or slogan for Prien Lake Park.  A theme is “a unifying or dominant idea, [or] motif”.[2]  The Task Force members proposed the following as examples of thematic phrases and design influences: “Enjoy Nature,” “Nature’s Best,” “Indian Bay,” “Come Out and Play on Indian Bay,” and French architecture, consistent throughout, using brick and wood materials.  It was decided that other themes could be requested from the architects in the Request for Proposals.  Additionally, the Task Force members felt that the name Prien Lake Park would remain but that the design professionals could possibly incorporate sub-themes in different elements of the park (i.e., history of the area along the boardwalk and/or nature trail).

Public input

On January 21, 2003, Parish Administrator, S. Mark McMurry welcomed members of the public to the Prien Lake Park Public Meeting, and briefly described how the Prien Lake Park Development Task Force was established.  After Task Force and facilitator introductions, Karen Fernandez of Fernandez Plans, LLC, provided a presentation covering the purpose of the Task Force, the material presented during Task Force meetings, consensus on park elements and the next steps of the development process.

The public meeting offered time for concerned people to ask questions or make comments on the expansion of Prien Lake Park and the progress of the Task Force thus far.  The following is a summary of those questions and replies.  Included with each comment/question is the discussion and decision(s) of the Task Force from the February 25, 2003 meeting.

·                     Ms. Dianne Fruge asked if there were plans of naming park structures and if they could be named after past landowners.  The answer is that this would be a matter for the Police Jury and that typically such things are named after only those people who are deceased. 

Table 1

Proposed Prien Lake Park Elements

 Task Force Comments February 25, 2003:

The Task Force wanted to be clear that Ms. Fruge was asking whether the park could be renamed after a person or a structure/facility in the park.  Mr. Mark McMurry noted that a person has to be deceased before their name can be used on any public project.  Further, it takes special legislation for this occur.  It was decided that a structure or facility may be able to have a plaque placed if it was underwritten by a certain person or group. 

·                     Mr. Lehrue Stevens commented that the area is in Indian Bay, but not mentioned was the history of this area as a port for the lumber industry.  This industry brought schooners to the port to transport lumber to Galveston lumber mills.  He also commented that he was in favor of passive activities.

Task Force Comments February 25, 2003:

As far as renaming the park, the consensus was that the park will likely keep its original name but that elements/facilities may take on historic references, such as that of Indian Bay or the lumber industry schooners.

·                     Mrs. Linda Husers asked how there could be an active use of children’s waterplay while an undesired use is swimming.  She also asked if there would be playground equipment.  The answer is that the active use termed “children’s (waterplay) recreation/play area” is not limited to a water-related option, but if a water-related recreation is designed it will not involve swimming in the lake.  It is possible that playground equipment will be part of the plan.  The objective is to include something interactive for children.

Ms. Nadine Wise provided comment via email emphasizing the importance of providing playground equipment that would accommodate physically challenged children.

Task Force Comments February 25, 2003:

The Task Force wanted to verify that a children’s waterplay area did not include active swimming in the lake, but that referred to an interactive water-related facility (fountains, etc.) that would also be ADA-compliant.  It was noted that all park facilities including the children’s play area and any play equipment would be required to meet ADA standards.

·                     Mr. Todd Mann asked why there is an aversion to renting boats?  The reply to this aversion is the concern of combining too many different types of boating in one launching area.  Another concern is the incompatibility of boat rentals and the no swimming rule.  It was also mentioned that there is another launching area that does rent boats.

Task Force Comments February 25, 2003:

The Task Force verified that passive, personal use boats, such as canoes, etc. would be allowed, but not rented, and only to be launched in an area separate from motorized boats.

·                     Mr. Michael Tritico commented that Prien Lake Park is very meaningful to him.  Regarding landscaping with native species he implied support of planting the once plentiful cypress trees.  He would like to see at least a portion of the shoreline restored with a natural edge without bulkheads and boardwalks.  Another comment was to possibly improve the park to provide wildlife habitats, in particular for eagles, which are part of the namesake of Calcasieu (Crying Eagle) Parish.  He also hopes that this new development could provide a comfort station for area boaters due its central location.

Ms. Nadine Wise provided comment via email supporting Mr. Tritico’s suggestions for landscaping with native species.

Task Force Comments February 25, 2003:

The native species recommendation is already included within the Task Force’s report.  Regarding the shoreline, the Task Force commented that the boardwalk feature as envisioned would allow access near the existing shoreline, but would not involve any modifications to the shoreline itself.  The Task Force felt it would be difficult to establish within the park a habitat for wildlife.

·                     Mr. Allen P. August Jr., regarding a lookout tower, suggested erecting an observatory for stargazing.  It could be funded by industry and manned by McNeese University.  He stated that an observatory would be an excellent draw to the park.

Mr. August subsequently followed up on his comments made at the January 21, 2003 public meeting with information concerning a similar tower/observatory/telescope in West Virginia.

Ms. Nadine Wise provided comment via email supporting Mr. August’s suggestions for an observatory.

Task Force Comments February 25, 2003:

The Task Force expressed concern of having an observatory for stargazing in terms of its practicality in the park where there may be height limitations, hours of operation concerns, and duplication of efforts by McNeese University, which currently operates an observatory.  It was decided that a simple lighthouse or similar landmark would remain within the park element recommendations.  The Task Force decided not to include the observatory suggestion.

·                     Mr. Dalton Langford requested that if there is to be a café, restaurant or marina that developers check with the local business community so as to not overlap with already existing commercial uses.  It was reiterated that a marina and a full-scale restaurant is an undesired use, partially due to already existing and proposed developments.

Task Force Comments February 25, 2003:

The Task Force confirmed its definition of a café and that it specifically reviewed the proposed Pinnacle development for this reason.  It also confirmed that it was undesired to have a full-scale restaurant at the park.

Next steps

The next steps in the planning process indicate the roles of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, the Prien Lake Park Development Task Force, and park designers as follows:

1.                  After considering public input, the Task Force recommendations will be presented to the Police Jury.  (The report is to be presented to the Police Jury’s Public Works Committee on Thursday, February 27, 2003.)

2.                  The Police Jury will be asked to approve the solicitation of proposals through a formal Request-for-Proposals process.

3.                  A subcommittee of the Task Force will aid the Police Jury in evaluating design proposals.

4.                  This subcommittee will recommend design(s) to the entire Task Force, then to the Police Jury.