Community weighs in on different options for Wald Park pool, proposed Altadena park

The Community Spaces Plan subcommittees for the former Altadena Valley Country Club property and the swimming facilities at Wald Park met Wednesday evening for the next round of community engagement meetings, and community members nearly filled the council chambers.

Both meetings were livestreamed on the city's Facebook page as well, allowing those unable to be at City Hall in person a forum for commenting.

TCU Consulting Services principal Ken Upchurch kicked off both meetings by going through what the firm will be doing going forward.

Over the next week, TCU will hold forums for the rest of the subcommittees, continuing to go back through the list of items gathered at previous meetings and through talking with stakeholders and soliciting reactions and opinions on what should be considered a priority.

Then, Upchurch explained, the firm will take the data they've gathered and begin creating options, with the goal of presenting a report to the city council by Sept. 15.

Wald Park Pool

Discussion about swimming facilities at Wald Park once again focused on making sure there are facilities to accommodate both competition swimming and general public use.

Multiple residents expressed frustration with a dichotomy being drawn between competition swimming and "community first," several pointing out that most of those who join Vestavia Swim Association teams are part of the community.

Others expressed that they desired the pools to be multi-use and not limited to one purpose.

During the survey period, an overwhelming majority of respondents said they would prefer to have multiple pools, rather than a single pool that encompassed all needs.

[To take the Wald Park Pool survey, click here]

Former Altadena Valley Country Club

The second meeting focused on the Altadena property, and as with the first meeting discussing this property, the crowd was a mix of Vestavia residents and those who live in the unincorporated county areas near the park.

In addition to the list of needs and wants compiled at the last meeting, TCU representative Andy Bernard took a sizable list of additional suggestions for the park.

Audience members expressed concern over lighting — with much of the room sharing the sentiment that there should be no lighting at night and that the park should close at sundown.

Others expressed concern for how the park would be kept safe and secure, as well as the need to make sure any parking or walking trails are made of pervious materials.

Concern was evident once more over whether or not the park will include athletic fields, but Upchurch said the firm has seen that, so far, the desire to keep the park passive was coming through loud and clear.

“There’s nothing off the table, but there’s nothing on the table, except for ideas,” he said.

Survey respondents indicated that walking trails, safe access and keeping the park as natural as possible were major priorities.

[To take the Altadena survey, click here]

Next Steps

While the live surveys were closed at the end of each meeting, Upchurch urged those in the audience of both meetings to share the identical surveys the city will post on Vestavia Hills Listens, and also suggested those attending Wednesday night's meetings to take the surveys for the rest of the meetings as well.

“It is just another tool in the toolbox as we gather the data,” he said. “The more data we get, the better our options will be.”

City Manager Jeff Downes said there is also a forum for the community to share comments on the Listens page.

[To access the Vestavia Hills Listens page, click here]

Thursday evening will see meetings on the Wald Park ballfields at 5:30 p.m., and on the Community Building at the current Gold's Gym property at 7 p.m.