Meeting Concerning The Future of Wagner Park

The following was received from Helen Liggett, Chair of Aesthetics.

Parks Board Meeting,
Tuesday, September 28, 2010, noon,
City Hall,
Committee Room 103,
1625 13th Street



The Aesthetics Committee for the Neighborhood Association will be on the Agenda of the Parks Board meeting to update the Parks Board before it makes a decision on the Pavilion at Wagner Park.


Parks and Recreation is planning to spend $65,000 on a pavilion at Wagner Park. The current plan is to demolish the historic pavilion and construct (such as seen in South Lubbock parks) a concrete pad with a metal peaked roof and no walls, no bathrooms, no storage and no acoustic features. The Neighborhood Association has overwhelmingly voted to plead with the City to spend that money instead on enhancing the current asset of the pavilion with bathrooms.


The Parks Board is quite resistant to the request of the Neighborhood Association, as it would mean Wagner Park users would continue to benefit from the highly valuable asset of the bathrooms, when the City does not have the funds to confer this benefit on other parks. In other words, every park wants bathrooms, but the City can't afford to build them in every park, so their solution is to demolish bathrooms in the few parks that are lucky enough to have them.


Please attend and show your support for Wagner Park and its current pavilion. Make no mistade, the City will demolish this asset unless we show them that users of Wagner Park are not apathetic and will demand to be heard. Folks from all over Lubbock love and use Wagner Park. Don't let the city take away your assets because of political lethargy!

Aesthetics Committee Meeting

At J&B Coffee 4/11 left to right:

Holle Humphries, Jaime Nainez, Marion Phillips, Helen Liggett, Talia Jackson, Sherman Phillips, Tai Kreidler, Clint McDonald. Others participating that evening, but not in photo: Celeste Yoshinobu, Brandy Davis, Shery Goodwin, Patrick DeCesaro, Elaine Wilson, Calum Hetherington,Caroline Nunn, Denise Pope and Deanna Pearson.

The following was submitted by Helen Liggett, Chair of Aethestics

The Aesthetics Committee looked at Wagner Park related issues at a meeting held Sunday, April 11 at 7 pm at J&B Coffee. We addressed:


1) The Wagner Park Pavillion renovation or destruction. We wish to learn from the general membership of the Neighborhood Association if we want:


a. - renovation of the current pavilion, with bathrooms, or


b. - renovation of the current pavilion, without bathrooms, or


c. - tear out and replacement with the type of pavilion found at Ribble Park, or


d. - tear out and replacement with something more expensive than the type of pavilion found at Ribble Park.


We have requested from Parks and Recreation a move-back of the slated destruction of the pavilion by one year to give the neighborhood the opportunity to research and decide from the available options. Options a. and d. would require addtional funding other than what Parks and Recreation has available.


2) We also are seeking input from the entire membership of the Neighborhood Association on what should be done with the bathrooms at the current pavilion while awaiting destruction or renovation. Do we want the bathrooms opened as soon as possible? Or for them to remain locked? If opened, when? immediately or at some time in the future? When open, should there be limited hours they are available, such as 8:00 am to 8:00 pm?


In addition to neighborhood input, I am polling the staff at Roscoe Wilson Elementary as to their preferences.


3) Driving on the park is continuing to be a problem, as is parking enforcment. We are gathering information for the membership to consider in determining whether or not to pay for off-duty police officers to patrol the parks.