Politics & Government

City Council Members Support Pavilions in Park

Councilman Tom Besselman says he wanted strategic plan committee to consider proposal.

Several City Council members voiced support Tuesday during a work session for moving forward with building two pavilions in Frontier Park.

St. Charles Parks and Recreation Director Maralee Britton updated the council on the progress toward installing two pavilions and two bathrooms, in the park both which were approved by a 22-member committee last fall. 

Ward 2 City Councilman Tom Besselman said he wanted to see the issue studied further.  

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“I’d like to see the strategic plan implementation committee to take a look at this and give their OK,” said Besselman during Tuesday night’s city council work session. Besselman was one of the community members that helped create the city’s strategic plan, which was approved in August 2009.

One goal listed in the strategic plan is to "protect and preserve the natural environment of the riverfront." Another part of the plan says, "To the greatest extent possible, the City should avoid construction that would obstruct the view of the river throughout the riverfront area."

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“The park is supposed to be a passive park," Besselman said. "Why not just leave it alone?”

Councilman Dave Beckering, Ward-7, said the issue has already been studied by committee comprising many representatives from the city. "It was unanimous, we had multiple, multiple meetings about what a passive park was, everyone on the committee, it was unanimous, agreed to build two pavilions," he said.

He said he didn’t think it’s appropriate to bring the issue to the strategic plan implementation committee because conceivably every issue could then have to go before that group.

“This park is for everyone in the entire city,” he said. “And I will tell you, the city people, everyone I talk to, wants these pavilions."

Councilman Bob Kneemiller, Ward-4, said St. Charles County has purely passive parks. "Every one of them has pavilions, everyone of them has restrooms," he said. "The restrooms are sorely needed. We would never never build a park like  with this much use without restrooms."

Last week, the Parks Board to build a bathroom on the north side of Frontier Park. Parks and Recreation Director Maralee Britton said the cost will likely drop to $300,000, leaving about $145,000 to build one or two pavilions in the park. Britton said parks department is prepared to solicit bids for the project.

Britton said main purpose for the pavilions is to provide a lunch spot for school kids who take field trips to see both and and not specifically for festivals or events held in the park.

Beckering said he has photos of students sitting on the curb or on the Jaycee Stage during these field trips because they don’t have another place to eat lunch.

However, the restrooms and pavilions would benefit the patrons who attend events held in the park. Between May and October this year, there are four runs, 17 concerts, four festivals, a play, a boat race and an art competition scheduled in Frontier Park, according to the city's calendar.

Britton said the parks department hasn’t yet decided whether groups would be able to reserve pavilions or whether they would have to be left open to the public

Britton said one issue would be festivals and groups who would want to rent out the pavilion and earn money from putting a vendor in there.

“Or it can be flat out they cannot be used and have to be left open for general public use,” Britton said. “I think that’s another discussion to come.”

An earlier version of this story misidentified Councilman Bob Kneemiller and mischaracterized what he said about the need for pavilions and restrooms in the park. Patch regrets the error.


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