GATE CITY – Town Council and Gate City Frontier members discussed Monday how a new community park concept would fit into the organizations’ future work. Mayor Jamie Lawson joined council members Pat Elliott, Dexter Harman and Michele Rusek and Town Manager Greg Jones at the workshop with Gate City Frontier Executive director Leslie Crawford and members to look at the Gate City Community Park Concept. Drawings prepared by architectural form Spectrum Design show conversion of the parking lot along East Water Street - south of the Jackson Street downtown business district – into a complex with: - basketball court - sheltered pavilion - splashpad - two pickleball courts - park lawn - parking along approximately two-thirds of the lot - pedestrian connection to Jackson Street Lawson said that, while the drawing includes two basketball courts, one of the courts could be turned into a skateboard park to draw skateboarders from using Jackson Street sidewalks.
Town Manager Jones said the proposed complex could also include electric vehicle charging stations that would be operated by a third-party company. Crawford and other Frontier members said they liked the concept, but Crawford said that any GCF participation or cooperation would raise questions whether the group is maintaining its good standing under the Virginia Main Street program. “If we could find a way to link all this together, it would be wonderful,” Crawford said of the concept and GCF-town work on downtown impro.