Fargo Park District’s Current Projects and the Core Neighborhood Parks

By Dawn Morgan

May, 2020

My passion lies in making well developed plans and seeing them to fruition. This interesting and rewarding work includes the enjoyment of working with others as we plan the development of our city into a healthy and fun home for our residents. We are very fortunate that the Fargo Parks District is independently funded and not a part of the City of Fargo budget. This explains the excellent and beautiful park system that we currently enjoy, with directors and staff always looking forward to further enrichment of the quality of life for our Fargo citizens.

From a previous meeting with Parks Administrators, I learned that there will be a focus on the Core Neighborhood Parks for the next few years. This coincides with my other current planning work as President of the Fargo Neighborhood Coalition and also as a member of the City of Fargo Planning Commission. The Planning Commission has undertaken, with the help of professional consultants, construction of a Core Neighborhood Plan which will coordinate the City, Parks and Schools into a Master Plan. At the same time consultants are working on updating the City Land Code to match the Master Plan.

The Fargo Park District has begun its largest project for this year, 2020, the development of the Block Nine Plaza. When I talked with director Dave Leker recently, he mentioned that the Park District was waiting for the final construction crane to come down. The crane came down and the Plaza Development has begun. We will have water features in the summer and an ice rink in the winter. There are plans for performance space, for markets and vendors. Sounds exciting!

As President of the Jefferson Area Neighborhood Association, I have been working with the Parks department for several years on the development of Jefferson Park which has led to the addition of planting beds for flowers and bushes, play areas, more weeping willow trees around the perimeter and the beginning of a shelter. The park is primarily a wide green open area at center. It is sunny and airy and well used by walkers, soccer players and children playing.

I have been concerned about Oak Grove Park and Lindenwood Park for many years. Both of them are overgrown and underdeveloped, with shelters ominous in their darkness and dampness. I remember sunny days in the “old days” when, as a child, with my parents and brother, we went for picnics at Oak Grove Park and I had fun in the wading pool for toddlers. Oak Grove Park was my first experience with Fargo Parks.

My second Park experience was when my father took the neighborhood kids to the only pool at Island Park weekdays after work at the Hector Field. He bought us all treats from the Dairy Queen on 7th Street after swimming. I’ve always loved Island Park with its Frederick Olmstad design, similar to Central Park in New York City, on a smaller scale. We have the open area, the forested area, walking or riding paths across the park in several meandering directions and the wonderful gazebo where my son, Dakota Rudesill and Rebecca Hogan Rudesill, were married. Island Park contains great beauty and dignity. As with everything, there are problems:

Island Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places with protection that there is to be no further encroachment into the park by any outside entities. The issue of encroachment has come up many times with difficult determinations on how to weigh benefits to the public. Both the YMCA and the Fargo Moorhead Community Theater have continued to expand. The Community Theater currently has a special concern after condemnation of parts of their older building and the necessity for demolition and rebuilding. With their plan in place, they are requesting additional space for a small expansion into Island Park. You can love all three; the Y, the Community Theater and Island Park.

Lindenwood Park is where my friends and I went in high school after we learned to drive. There have always been areas that are overgrown with weeds and low areas that retain stagnant water. Problems have arisen with the advent of motor travel homes. Citizens are concerned about increased traffic and the removal of ball fields.

In looking at Lindenwood Parka few days ago, I began to think that maybe we should develop the motor home sites into tenting sites only with development of campsite amenities and landscaping for some privacy. Fargo families could be encouraged to take a trip into nature right near home in Lindenwood Park. There could be riverside campsites, a launch for small watercraft and campfire sites. Lindenwood Park could be oriented toward a family friendly outdoor experience. I know people from Fargo who have camped in Lindenwood but did not like the mix with the big wheel travelers. I know that in many state parks there are evening fires and talks about the habitat and history which could be fun and informational for families. Redevelopment of the current large shelter is a must, hopefully with retention of its historic character. A separate park for travel homes exclusively could be developed elsewhere, outside of an established residential neighborhood, near the freeway and near arterial road access.

I like the designation of parks as different in purpose and focus. With Island Park being the jewel of elegant planning and development, to Lindenwood for Family Entertainment, and Block Nine for commerce and seasonal activities, could Oak Grove be developed as a place for larger gatherings, updating the shelter and implementing modern approaches for electronics, food production and comfort? A new shelter is essential, hopefully incorporating parts of the existing one. Could Oak Grove Park be an all- season destination in a beautiful natural environment redesigned with enrichments and public activities as pertaining to each season?

Of course, these thoughts are ideas and not my agenda. Being elected to an important position as a Park Board member, I would enjoy the work with other board members and staff. I am well informed of the wider picture regarding neighborhoods and schools and look forward to the experience as a Fargo Park Board member.