Valparaiso parks could soon be getting some upgrades. John Seibert, the executive director of the park department, shared his capital expenditure plan with the city council last week.
"The actual additional appropriations we're looking at are a variety of things that you see up there from pickleball upgrades, which are very popular — those are at Kirchhoff, where we've upgraded the tennis and pickleball courts — to a pedestrian bridge that needs to be replaced at Rogers Lake Wood that is essentially unsafe," Seibert explained.
Other planned improvements include water quality upgrades at Rogers Lake Wood, updates to the garbage collection process at four parks and roof replacements at the horticulture center on Campbell Street near the dog park.
Seibert said the park department had about $87,000 budgeted for capital outlays, but a positive cash flow in recent years means it can spend more. Specifically, he's asking the council for permission to spend another $260,000 as it comes in.
He said park revenues took a hit because of COVID-19, as recreation programs had to be downsized or split into smaller groups. But they were also able to lower expenses by cutting back on staff.
"Our gross [revenue] was less but our net stayed — we tried to control that as much as possible," Siebert added.
The additional appropriation request will be up for a public hearing and final council approval on May 23.
