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The public got its first detailed look this week at the “Field of Dreams” recreational park that is headed to Houma.
Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government hosted a public workshop last Thursday to update citizens on the status of the multi-million dollar project.
At the meeting, project architect Joseph Furr, of Baton Rouge-based Joseph Furr Design Studios, unveiled preliminary sketches for the park, which he and officials believe will be a huge coup for the Tri-parish area.
“Once this project is complete, we can foresee this being a $5 million-plus economic boost to Terrebonne Parish each and every year,” said Terrebonne Parish Dist. 6 Councilman Russell Hornsby. “It will truly be a family arena for everybody to enjoy.”
“This will be a great community park,” Furr added. “It’s going to be diverse and large and just a really high quality community park. … There will be something for everyone in the community to do at this park.”
Furr showed two blueprints for the project in his more than 60-minute presentation.
One blueprint laid out what the park would look like if the parish maintained just its current allotment of land off La. Highway 311 in Houma.
The second plan, which garnered most of the speculation on the night, was based on the assumption that the parish would acquire additional land for the project, which would add a second entrance to the recreational space off Valhi Boulevard.
Furr and Terrebonne Parish Senior Planner Chris Pulaski said that the parish is continuing to push to acquire the additional land.
If Furr’s plan holds true, an array of opportunities will be available to the public.
The first phase of the project will be a baseball and softball complex that will feature five baseball fields, five softball fields and four multi-purpose fields that will be able to be used for either sport.
Preliminary construction has already started on that land and Furr said the parish plans to open the baseball and softball complex in an attempt to allow the money it generates to fund other aspects of the project.
Once fully complete, the recreation center will feature seven high school soccer fields, eight tennis courts and an indoor facility that will feature basketball courts.
The complex will also feature a large lake, which will be ripe for canoeing and a beach area off the lake for beach volleyball and other outdoor play.
Furr said the parish is exploring ways to also use the lake and the entire complex for flood control purposes in the event of a storm.
A dog park and bike trails are also among the other things that were detailed in the original blueprint.
Furr said it was “very important” that the public understood that the project is not a sports-only complex, but is instead something everyone can enjoy.
“We don’t want this to be a sports park,” Furr said. “We want it to just be simply a park.”
Even with sketches drawn and land purchased, a few obstacles stand in the way of the project’s birth.
Pulaski said the parish does not have all of the money needed to complete the entire project, which has a price tag of more than $10 million.
Pulaski added that everyone in parish government will be aggressively working to try and find sources of income to bankroll the park.
“That’s all of our jobs right now,” Pulaski said. “We’re all working on that.”
After Furr’s presentation, members of the public were offered an opportunity to voice their concerns about the project.
Residents of the nearby Lakes Subdivision voiced concerns about what the park would mean for their neighborhood.
Furr said that in the small portion of the park that shares of border with the Lakes, it’d be “logical” for the parish to construct a fence to divide the two entities.
He added that all public address systems and lighting structures would point away from the subdivision – closing his comments by citing research that states that property values rise for areas that surround parks similar to the Houma project.
“You won’t need to worry about people roaming in your neighborhood,” Furr said. “Once this is in place, they’ll be in the park and doing things there.
“This is going to be a special place – a place that this area will be able to be proud of.”
Project architect Joseph Furr shows off a blueprint for the Terrebonne Parish Community Park at last Thursday’s public meeting. In the more than one-hour meeting, Furr confirmed that the park will feature baseball, softball, tennis, soccer and many other recreational activities.
