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Post commentShakespeare in Harmon Park
John Merritt made a detailed proposal to Parks for construction of a temporary modular stage in Harmon Park, where Shakespeare in the Ozarks would stage its productions next fall.
Shakespeare in the Ozarks is spearheaded by Merritt, a longtime patron of Shakespeare festivals.
Shakespeare in the Ozarks successfully kicked off its first season last July with a special performance of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in Basin Spring Park.
"Our earlier show in Basin Park pointed out our dire need for a more dedicated venue," Merritt said, mentioning interference from street noise as a problem during the Basin Park show.
Community Shakespeare
Merritt said his vision for Shakespeare in the Ozarks is committed to two basic tenets: To strive for high quality productions that will garner critical acclaim, and to create an outdoor venue that is as close to the core of downtown Eureka Springs as possible, in order to maximize its positive impact on the community.
Merritt said the group's vision is to provide a venue that complements the Arts and Cultural District master plan for N. Main Street, which includes a section of Grand Ave. terminating at Harmon Park.
"We also chose Harmon Park because of its historicity," Merritt said.
From the 1890s to the 1930s, a large summer auditorium existed in Harmon Park.
"It was part of the Chautauqua circuit," Merritt added, "and we believe Shakespeare was performed there originally."
The Chautauqua circuit
The Chautauqua circuit was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s.
The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.
The project, which the commission approved 4 to 0, will require relocating a small area of playground equipment and resodding the turf, as well the group going through the usual city channels to gain the necessary permits and approvals.
Merritt said according to plans, the first nail would be driven in mid-June, and the stage would be disassembled for storage, and the area restored, by the beginning of October.
He said the group had filed as a non-profit and was in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) with the IRS.
East Mtn. Lookout tree cuts
Judy Montgomery of the Eureka Springs Rotary Club, accompanied by Christopher Fischer, brought the commission up to date on progress on the Rotary Club's East Mountain Lookout project.
The plan calls for removal of 17 trees within the city reservation downhill west of the lookout, to improve the view of downtown from the site, and possibly three trees on either side that grow on private property, if permission can be obtained for their removal.
Plans also call for renovation of the gazebo, including replacing its shake roof with a copper one, and, if the money is available, installing a surveillance system at the site to reduce vandalism.
Montgomery proposed a meeting of property neighbors with Rotary and Parks to "make sure neighbors understand the nature of the project."
Montgomery said she thought the "greatest impact on the neighbors" would be chainsaws used in the tree cutting.
She added Rotary wanted to disturb the overall site as little as possible during the work and wanted it to be "a pretty low-key project from that standpoint."
Fischer surveys trees
Fischer, who was commissioned by Rotary to do a site plan and tree survey, said most of the trees needing removal for the purpose of improving the view were in the "foreground" of the reservation, nearer the top of the hill.
He said only two trees, a 14-inch pine and a red oak, would present removal difficulties given their size and the surrounding trees, but that tree removal specialists were being consulted on the issue.
Fischer said the trees being removed would allow surrounding trees to grow to fill the space, and added the project's replanting plan would fill the foreground of the area with 17 redbuds, dogwoods and low-growing maples -- trees that would provide beautiful cover but wouldn't grow to block the view.
Montgomery said she had talked to Sgt. Al Frost of the Eureka Springs Police Department regarding a surveillance system for the lookout, but the system was one of the costliest items in the project.
She suggested if Rotary could come up with funding to install such a system, someone else might be persuaded to pay the cable bill on it every month.
Chair Bill Featherstone suggested Rotary might begin by removing only a few of the trees, to get an idea of how the site is affected, before removing all 17.
'A minimalist on tree removal'
"I'm a minimalist on tree removal," he said.
Fischer agreed, saying funds might be put aside to do a few more next fall, spreading out the cost.
He added it was important to remember people living downhill from the lookout relied on the intervening canopy to shield them from traffic noises and other activity at the lookout.
Everyone agreed, in the end, to hold a public meeting, suggesting it could be held in the annex of the Carnegie Public Library, preferably the first week in December.
Needs assessment survey
Dr. Steve Dittmore, Assistant Professor of Recreation at UA, appeared at the commission's request to discuss a proposed project to be conducted by him and his research and evaluation class this spring.
The project would be a "needs evaluation" of either all the city's parks, or just Harmon Park, depending how inclusive the project ends up being.
Dittmore's class would discover, through a combination of personal interviews with residents and written surveys, to be mailed or offered electronically, what the public wanted in terms of Parks property, as well as what they were willing to do to pay for it.
The assessment would cost $3,500, which would cover overhead -- postage, for example, and travel costs. Neither Dittmore nor his class would be paid for their work.
Debate ensued about whether the survey should focus exclusively on Harmon Park or go beyond that.
Master plan a must-have
The commission has put a moratorium on any further construction or development in the park until it has a master plan, and the assessment is a necessary part of that plan.
Commissioners asked Dittmore if the survey could be expanded to include issues other than those originally proposed.
Dittmore said the project could be anything they wanted. "The important thing is this is a transparent process through which the community has a say in how its parks are developed."
Featherstone took a straw vote of those present, finding general favor for participation in the survey, and the issue was postponed until the next meeting on Dec. 15 to give commissioners time to go through the project in detail to come up with questions for Dittmore.
Horses in Leatherwood
Jordan Maxfield of Hidden Valley Ranch, which adjoins Lake Leatherwood City Park, appeared before Parks to offer them a chance to collaborate with him on several upcoming projects which could be expanded to include Leatherwood if the commission is interested.
These projects include the upcoming Eagle's Nest bike rally at Leatherwood, in which the city is already involved, a gospel singing event Easter weekend and a Rocktoberfest musical event next fall.
Maxfield also asked why horses weren't allowed to ride in Leatherwood, saying it had often been done in the past.
Horses out for now
Featherstone pointed out the park is a low-impact facility and preserving its natural beauty as much as possible was part of Parks' mission.
"Horses could be integrated," he said, "but when horses start sharing trails [with people] it's problematic, to say the least."
He said policing the area for inappropriate horses would be difficult given Parks' small staff.
"Once horses get on [some of] the trails they get on all the trails," Featherstone said. "Of course, we could definitely look at the issue further."
Later, Parks and Recreation Director Bruce Levine said while it might be possible to work out an arrangement to allow horse traffic in some parts of Leatherwood, staging such events -- finding places to load and unload the horses, park the trailers, etc. -- was the greater issue, in terms of damaging the property.
Parks adopts logo
Fischer presented Parks with his finalized rendition of a proposed new Parks and Recreation logo which met with great enthusiasm from the commission and was officially adopted at the meeting.
Fischer had approached Levine months ago about redesigning its logo.
Using the Dogwood flower as his central motif because a version of it is already in use by Public Works, Fischer worked up several variations of the design, the final one of which will now appear on signage, letterheads, Parks vehicles and other official representations of Parks and Recreation.
