Apopka wants dog parks, multi-purpose fields, and more restrooms at Northwest Recreation Facility

This past spring, the Apopka Recreation Department conducted a survey and asked the people of Apopka what kind of improvements they would like to see come to the Northwest Recreation Facility. The survey ran for about a month, closing in May. The department received 660 responses.

And the survey says...

“The areas that got the most number one votes are dog parks, multi-purpose fields, more restrooms and an accessible playground,” Recreation Director Brian Forman told the City Council at its July 7th meeting.

Forman said their next steps are to hire a parks planner, provide a concept map, artistic renderings, and provide an itemized project budget by fall.

Apopka City Commissioners Kyle Becker and Alexander Smith raised concerns about whether these amenities are going to be brought up in budget workshops.

“Some of it will,” Forman said. “As far as more extensive stuff, some of it’s on the wish list.”

Forman added that amenities like the playground might be funded through grants, but it’s still on their budget wish list. He also confirmed that restrooms would be included in the budget with their designated allocation of the $2.98 million Duke Energy money.

City Commissioner Diane Velazquez was initially underwhelmed by the number of survey responses but said that once they start moving along with improvements, she's sure they’ll get more response from residents.

“I am happy that with the Duke money we are putting bathrooms by the amphitheater,” Velazquez said. She said the current restrooms in place have been an inconvenience to the seniors who frequently attend the amphitheater. “The bathrooms are definitely a must for us at the amphitheater,” she said.

Mayor Bryan Nelson said he was concerned about whether or not to get community input before or after the consultation. He thought the survey was a good way to check for things they might have missed that people may have wanted.

"It's kind of like the chicken or the egg," said Nelson "Do we get some community input before we get the consultant? At least this way we would get some idea and then he'll come back with a more formalized plan and we'll obviously get some additional feedback from the community before we move forward. But I thought that this was a smart way to at least get started and find out if there are things we just completely missed that people wanted."