By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph Parks and Recreation is holding the first of three community open house events at the Missouri Theater Thursday to share ideas about renovations at Krug Park.
Parks and Rec spokesperson Jessica Oshel says this event will provide a lot of information on several different areas of Krug.
"We're going to have different community surveys they can fill out," Oshel said. "Interactive tables which will really highlight the children's circus, castle, amphitheater, playground area, stonewalls and tunnels and the overall park itself. We really want to get the input from the community about what they want to see there."
The event is from 4-7 p.m. Thursday evening at the Missouri Theater downtown. A community survey is available on the St. Joseph Parks and Rec website to give people a chance to provide their input on Krug. That survey is available through July 24.
Oshel says gathering the public's input is vital and it's a way to show their tax dollars going toward something useful.
"It's a huge piece of the parks sales tax," she said. "It's going to be a multi-year project with multiple aspects of the renovation. For us, it's going to be a very large visual for people to be able to see towards the parks tax. That the money is actually going toward something."
Krug Park will receive up to $12 million in funding from the half-cent parks sales tax that was overwhelmingly approved by St. Joseph voters in 2021. That tax will sunset after 10 years.
Oshel says the biggest priorities at Krug are the castle, children's circus, picnic pavilions and the amphitheater. And again, she says the public’s input is key.
"They're able to be a part of the process and they understand that participating is really going to help us out and they're going to be able to have a say on what is happening to the park."
Oshel says there are several parts of the park that will be worked on very soon.
"The aspects that'll be worked on first are the upper tunnel and the amphitheater," Oshel said. "The castle improvements will begin and that'll include ADA solutions for the castle. The children's circus and castle restrooms, all of those projects will be started in FY 2023."
The parks department will hold another community open house in late summer and again in early fall.
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