Riverside Park: Your park, your vision

Expanded hiking trails, an amphitheater, and a small “sprayground” that will shoot jets of water are all possibilities for Lynchburg’s second oldest park.

Riverside Park, which opened in 1922, is slated for a major makeover.

Ideas include planting more gardens, adding onto the Alpine Trail, and developing new features such as the sprayground. Final changes will be outlined in the park’s first-ever master plan, set for completion this summer.

Interested residents don’t have to wait for their first glimpse of some of the possibilities, though.

Early drawings released by Lynchburg Parks & Recreation reveal a combination of the various improvements under consideration. The designs, available online and at the department’s main office, are being displayed for public comment.

None represent a final layout, Parks & Recreation Director Kay Frazier said. Rather, they incorporate different elements that have been explored during the master plan process.

By opening the plans up for public scrutiny, officials hope to narrow down the options.

“We’re not looking for folks to say, ‘I like Plan A’ or ‘I like Plan B,’” Frazier said. “You may like things in all the plans. And our final plan will probably draw on them all.”

Three conceptual drawings have been offered for feedback.

“Concept A” displays an amphitheater — something not currently in the park — as its centerpiece.

“Concept B” calls for new “garden rooms” and walking paths to be developed.

“Concept C” — which designers described as the “trail-intensive” option — provides for an expansion of the Alpine Trail.

Smaller changes include the sprayground, which the Junior League of Lynchburg has offered to fund; construction of a second river overlook along the Alpine Trail; and an historical exhibit of the former all-white Riverside Park pool, which was shut down by the city when pressure to integrate began to mount.

“One of the ideas we’ve heard very strongly is that the entire history of the park is important, particularly the history of the pool in the community,” Frazier said of that last item. “There’s a very strong desire to recognize that.”

Following completion of the Riverside master plan, work on renovations is expected to start next winter and continue in phases over several years.

The final design will be brought up to a public workshop for reaction. That event, which has not yet been scheduled, will be the fourth and final forum held during this process.

The third, which took place last week, centered on the three preliminary drawings. The small audience present praised plans for both the sprayground and amphitheater.

Frazier said the city hopes to continue getting comments as the process moves forward.

“This park belongs to the public,” she said. “They’re the ones who use it. It’s theirs.”

- Copies of the Riverside Park ideas can be found at the Parks & Recreation offices, 301 Grove St. They can also be found on the city’s Web site, www.lynchburgva.gov. Those interested should click on ‘City Departments,’ then ‘Parks & Recreation,’ and finally ‘Riverside Park Master Planning.’

PHOTOS BY CHET WHITE/THE NEWS & ADVANCE
Gregory Megginson gives his 3-year-old daughter, Ma-Liyah, a big push on the swing sets at Riverside Park on Thursday.

Dave Wickline visited Riverside Park on Thursday to stretch, read and walk. Wickline, who grew up playing at Riverside Park, said he
visits the park close to five times a week and would love to see something meaningful done in the area where the public pool was.