Paul Long (I)
I know there is a lot of interest in maintaining the wading
What is your vision
Challenger
pool there. There is clearly a strong interest in maintaining
the Dogwood Memorial there. It’s the first Vietnam veterans
I think McIntire Park should be maintained. I don’t believe in
memorial in the country. So we have lot of interest we need
the [Meadowcreek Parkway] being built there. I don’t think
to balance and we have a good process in place for bringing
for McIntire Park?
the YMCA or even the botanical garden should be built
all those voices to the table.
there. Charlottesville is growing and I have talked to people
who have lived in Charlottesville all their life and some of
them are very disappointed how its grown, it’s not like it was Kristin Szakos (D)
30 or 40 years ago. I think it’s very important that in the
Challenger
area that’s growing more urban, we should preserve open
park space and it shouldn’t be touched at all.
My vision for McIntire Park is people using it. I would love to
see - well one of the things I think about an urban park is
that it offers opportunities for kids who don’t have big yards,
Dave Norris (D) kids who may not have a whole lot of green space in their
Incumbent
lives to have open space, to be able to run and play and be
outside and see trees and grass and flowers and maybe
Well, I think the issue with McIntire Park for me always boils
even get poison ivy, God forbid!
down to the fact that it's our City’s largest park and right
now the status quo for McIntire Park is one in which only a And I think that at this point our park in some ways does
very small number of local citizens, and even smaller num- that very well. We have baseball that’s there, it’s I think
ber of City residents, use McIntire Park on any kind of regular probably a majority of County residents. But they need parks
basis. And right now the way it is today, the eastern half on too. I have no problem with that. And we have the golf
the park is reserved almost exclusively for golfers and we are course which is relatively well used; a lot of people play golf
about to put a major road in there that’s going to cater pri- there. But there are no bus lines to McIntire Park and so that
marily to County interests. On the western side of the park, limits who can go there. It’s in walking distance from the
it's primarily used by [soft ball teams] and little leaguers, high school, but at this point there isn't much there for high
most of whom are County residents. school-age kids.
So we have the City’s largest park whose primary users now I am really excited about the idea of having the YMCA there.
and in the near future are County residents and the goal for I think that’s going to bring people into the park in a way
me should be - and I think the goal for the community that exposes kids to that sort of space. It takes up very little
should be - to figure out how do we open up that park to of it proportionately and I think that the payback is great.
more of our residents, particularly more of our City residents, And so I am delighted about that.
and create some amenities in that park that are going to re-
inforce what parks are for.
There has been some talk about the botanical gardens….I
think it’s an intriguing idea. I am not sure that I want a whole
Which in my mind are promoting recreation, promoting com- lot of public funds tied up into sustaining it long term. I think
Bob Fenwick (I)
munity building, promoting youth enrichment, promoting ap- if it were privately funded I would feel a lot better about it….
Challenger
preciation of nature. So that's the metric by which I am go-
ing to judge any proposal for McIntire Park or any of our
My vision for McIntire Park is exactly what Paul Goodloe
parks. Is it going to advance those kinds of goals? I certainly Andrew Williams (I)
McIntire insisted on when he made the generous contribu-
don’t think a large new road that’s going to chew up two
Challenger (Write-in)
tions that resulted in McIntire Park. The land was given with
dozen acres of that park accomplishes those goals.
conditions and the City accepted the conditions along with
I want to see McIntire Park stay the way that it is, I really do.
the land. It was given “in perpetuity, to the citizens of
There are other projects that have been proposed that are in Really I don't want to see any changes, but based on the
Charlottesville as a park and a playground.” The City at that
the pipeline for the park, that I do think are going to accom- circumstances looking at the future, we do have to consider
time didn’t say they would accept the land but not the con-
plish those goals. You look at the YMCA, which I am pretty how we are going to alleviate the stresses in the City even
ditions.
excited about, it will mean the loss of one acre, the building with Albemarle County because of the relationship that we
has a one acre footprint, but it’s a one acre piece of land have with them. Change is difficult, but if we are going to be
Mr. McIntire was well aware of congestion and he had a re-
right now that’s used for picnic shelter. This isn’t sort of virgin proactive or at least try to be proactive, we do have to move
markable appreciation for open space. His business world
green space that we are chewing up and those picnic shel- forward with that existing plans.
was the concrete canyons of Chicago and New York.
ters will be relocated elsewhere in the park. And that facility
Commercial development in the western part of McIntire
is going to be an invaluable resource for the kids who attend
Park with the YMCA, which I support and have done a lot of
Charlottesville High School next door of the park and provide
work to try and find a better location for, and in the eastern
positive opportunities….
part with the Meadowcreek Parkway and now in the central
part with the proposed botanical gardens with additional
I am very interested on the other side of park, if and when
buildings and parking and imported non-native plants, was
the Meadowcreek Parkway is built, what happens to the rest
certainly not what he had envisioned. If he had envisioned
of the park then? And we are going to be kicking off a mas-
such he would have said it, but his words were very simple
ter planning process hopefully in the next six to twelve
and straightforward: “to be used as a park and a play-
months to engage the community in a discussion about
ground.” It is now free and open and the entire community
what happens then with the eastern half of the park.
enjoys it and has enjoyed it for generations. I would work
There is a proposal to maintain a golf presence there. There
hard to keep it that way.
is a proposal to incorporate a botanical garden there.
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