Improvements planned this summer for several Jackson parks

As part of an ongoing improvement plan, several Jackson parks will be getting updates this summer.

The first is the scheduled completion of the new disc-golf course that was installed earlier this year.

"We've had a bunch of positive feedback and reviews so far," Jackson's Parks and Recreation director, Shane Anderson, said.

But the concrete tee pads that are scheduled to be installed this summer will make them easier to use when rain might make the course soggy.

The installation will cost $18,000 and will be completed by Lappe Cement Finishing in Perryville, Missouri.

The Parks Department also is determining the best way to update the existing bathroom at Armory Field.

"It's an age thing. It's like a lot of bathrooms; there's nothing particularly wrong, but what we're looking to do is replace that bathroom," Anderson said.

The city will replace the bathroom with a traditional restroom structure or a prefabricated one, each of which has their benefits.

A traditional structure would be less expensive, Anderson said, but a prefab restroom would make up for upfront cost.

"Looking at a prefab building; it would be more vandal-resistant," he said. "The panels are harder to spray-paint on, and the fixtures are constructed in such a way that they would be harder to damage."

At the moment, the park board is considering giving higher priority to putting a bathroom in the main city park near Parkview Street, which was in the city's 2014 master plan.

"It's just in the consideration phase now, though," Anderson said. "We're getting cost figures together now."

The third project would be to install a 6-foot fence in the outfield of field 5 in the main city park and an enclosure down the first- and third-base sidelines and bleachers.

The city is entering into an agreement with the Jackson High School for a cost-sharing agreement for the improvements.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627