Photo by Erin Nelson.
Kenya Harris and Brandon Lockett look at the trail map at the Moss Rock boulder field as they decide on a path to take for a hike in March 2021.
Expanding trails and greenways should be the top priority for Hoover parks and recreation officials, according to public feedback given for a parks and public spaces plan the city is creating.
That was consistently ranked as the biggest need for city parks and recreation offerings, said Mindy Wyatt, a strategic analyst with the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development who is serving as project manager for the plan.
Improving the maintenance and condition of existing parks, updating amenities at existing parks and creating new opportunities for recreation also were seen as important, Wyatt said. Some recurring suggestions for new amenities and projects included a skate park, more pickleball courts and taking steps to preserve historical sites in places like Bluff Park and the Brock’s Gap area, she said.
The city recently wrapped up the public engagement phase for the parks and public spaces plan after holding several town hall and focus group meetings and conducting an online survey. More than 770 people attended the town hall meetings, and 3,542 people took the survey, including 2,874 residents and 540 people who live outside Hoover, Wyatt said.
Survey participants indicated their favorite parks in Hoover to visit are the 350-acre Moss Rock Preserve nature park, Aldridge Gardens and Veterans Park. The Hoover Metropolitan Complex and Finley Center were the top-visited sports facilities.
Survey participants said their top existing park amenities were trails, gardens, scenery, playgrounds and community events, and the amenities they would most like to see added or expanded are paved walking loops, play equipment, hiking and unpaved trails, blueway access and fishing.
Their top existing park and recreation programs were rock climbing, running and walking events, playground events, soccer progams and weightlifting, while programs or events they would most like to see added or expanded were markets and festivals, hiking and outdoor clubs, concerts and performances, arts programs and outdoor movie nights.
With a $10,000 contribution from Signature Homes, the city now is conducting a regional trail feasibility study, said Jeremy Vice, a member of the Hoover Parks and Recreation Board. The goal is to create more opportunities for walking, jogging, hiking and biking and to connect Hoover’s various communities together as well as with other points of interest and trail networks in adjacent communities, Vice said.
The goal is to have the regional trail study done by Thanksgiving and incorporate it into the overall city park and public spaces plan, he said.
There were more than 750 comments about the need for a skate park in Hoover, Wyatt said. A group called Skate Alabama has been pushing for a skate park to be built in Hoover for about three years. The group two years ago announced it wanted to build a 20,000-square-foot park for skateboarding, inline skating and BMX biking at the Hoover Met Complex, and a year ago the estimated price tag was $800,000 to $1 million.
Former Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice said then that if the skateboard community could raise the money to build a new skate park, the city would allow it to be built at the Met Complex and would oversee and maintain it. However, fundraising has been difficult.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said the city almost daily receives calls from people wanting more pickleball courts.
The city in August held a ribbon cutting for six pickleball courts that were created out of tennis court space next to Simmons Middle School, with Hoover City Schools covering one-third of the $67,000 cost, officials said.
Also in August, construction began for eight new pickleball courts and 45-50 new parking spaces at Veterans Park. The city is spending $900,000 for that project, and Shelby County is chipping in $400,000, for a total of $1.3 million.
The city also has had the Goodwyn Mills & Cawood architectural firm drawing up plans for 12 to 24 new pickleball courts at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex and has received a $500,000 grant through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for that project, but that project is not yet fully funded, Council President John Lyda said.
The full report on public feedback is available at hooveral.org/1036/Future-Hoover.
