Renovations at Park Middle School includes installing a geothermal heating and cooling system. Wellfields for the system are being dug at the existing Cooper Park soccer field.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Students from Park Middle School cross South Eighth Street after school on Wednesday.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Renovations at Park Middle School includes installing a geothermal heating and cooling system. Wellfields for the system are being dug at the existing Cooper Park soccer field.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Orange construction fencing encloses part of Park Middle School in April 2021 adjacent to South Sixth Street, near where a new entry to the parking lot will be built.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Construction work continues south of Park Middle School near Cooper Park, where some neighbors are upset about details of the project.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Students from Park Middle School cross South Eighth Street after school on Wednesday.
For the record, nobody is climbing the trees in Cooper Park like they did 30 years ago, the last time renovation of the school just north of the park caused an outcry.
But neighbors are concerned, nonetheless.
The South Salt Creek neighborhood residents know all about the Cooper Park master plan, a document that promises renewal and repair for the acres of green that have anchored their neighborhood south of the Haymarket for more than 150 years.
They’ve known — since the document was approved last year — that along with retaining wall fixes, new lighting and improved sidewalks, in addition to the basketball court and repaired roofs and public art, the long-range plan calls for improvements to the soccer field in the northwest corner of the park next to Park Middle School.
But they say they didn’t know — until recently — about plans to create a driveway that would cut through the north edge of the park to Sixth Street, or about a proposal to sell the swath of parkland that will make up two-thirds of the larger soccer field to Lincoln Public Schools.
Those residents worry the new driveway, which will move the entrance to the Park Middle School parking lot from Eighth Street to Sixth Street, will create a barrier to community members wanting to use the soccer field, and will worsen, not help, school pickup and drop-off traffic.
And they say they’re concerned that selling parkland to LPS could be the beginning of more such land transfers over time, and that it could result in the district restricting access to the field, despite assurances that won’t happen.
“They keep talking about the master plan, but they never said anything about a big driveway cutting through the park,†said Justina Clark, president of the South Salt Creek Community Organization. “We wanted a large playing field. ... But at what cost?â€
The changes that concern neighbors are part of a $32.4 million renovation of Park Middle School, located at 855 S. Eighth St.
The renovation, part of the $290 million bond issue passed by voters last year, includes installing a geothermal heating-and-cooling system. Wellfields for the system are being dug at the existing soccer field, which is used by both residents and the school.
JJ Yost, planning and facilities manager for the City Parks and Recreation Department, said officials saw an opportunity once the bond issue passed to coordinate with the school district to accomplish some of the things on the Cooper Park master plan, especially enlarging and enhancing the playing field.
LPS will put turf on the new, larger soccer field and plans to build the driveway from the school parking lot just north of the park to Sixth Street, diverting before- and after-school traffic away from Eighth Street, where the parking lot entrance now sits.
Yost said city traffic engineers wanted to lessen traffic turning from Eighth Street into the school because that's the path used by the majority of students walking to school. The other advantage, Yost said, is the driveway would take some of the pickup and drop-off traffic off the street.
Dan Auman, who lives on Sixth Street, just across the street from where the new driveway will be built, said traffic is already bad along his street, and the driveway will reduce already limited street parking near his house.
“Everybody that comes to visit my house will have to walk from the corner,†he said. “It pushes my guests nearly a quarter-block away.â€
Although LPS already owns a portion of the parkland, when residents found out the plan to transfer 1.6 additional acres, it set off alarm bells.
“The school, when it wants something, they get it, it seems like,†Auman said.
The driveway will just compound the feeling that the new field belongs to LPS and not the neighborhood, Clark said.
“If nothing else, it’s a mental barrier,†she said. “On this side of the road is the school, and on this side of the road is Cooper Park.â€
When parks and recreation officials learned about residents’ concerns, they organized an open house with school and city officials, giving residents a chance to ask questions and share concerns.
Yost attended a community organization meeting the next week, and he said LPS stopped construction on the roadway until officials can work through neighborhood concerns, though work on the wellfields is continuing.
The Cooper Park master plan grew out of an effort by the city and NeighborWorks to reorganize the neighborhood association, which had disbanded, Yost said. That plan, approved in 2019 and updated last summer to incorporate the Park Middle School project, includes a number of improvements to the park the city plans to do as money is available. A number of improvements have already completed.
Other work being done to the park as part of the project includes removing some retaining walls and stairs on the west side of the park and installing an accessible entrance ramp. The city also plans to move the curb along Eighth Street back 8 feet to create parallel parking, which will improve traffic flow.
Yost said he thought there would be more support for the project and that the city needs to do a better job of communicating what is happening. Now, it's trying to address neighbors’ concerns.
For instance, the city use stronger language to ensure the new soccer field must be open for community use, he said.
“It’s always been our thought that the playfield needs to be preserved for community use,†Yost said. “We’ve determined through this process that the language in the agreement needs to be very strong and reassuring to the public that’s what will happen and it can’t be changed in some way in the future.â€
He said officials are reviewing the road plan, and considering ways to make the driveway more pedestrian-friendly and less like a barrier.
As part of the project, the city removed two tennis courts and planned to build a new, single court on the south side of the new driveway, with pickleball lines added. Some residents have expressed concern about the smaller courts, a decision city officials made to accommodate a larger soccer field.
They’ll look again at how much the tennis courts are used to help decide if two courts are needed, Yost said.
He said he wants to work with residents so they feel good about the project because he thinks it’s a good thing for the community.
“If I didn’t think this was the right thing to do, I wouldn’t be promoting it,†he said.
City and school officials want to transfer the parkland to LPS to clearly delineate maintenance and upkeep responsibilities, Yost said. A long-term lease is also a possibility, but having LPS own the land will make it more clear-cut for officials years down the road.
But the future is part of what concerns residents.
They worry that LPS could continue to take more land over the years, bit by bit.
“For me, this is more than just this project specifically,†Clark said. “It’s the underlying principle of LPS expanding into the park because they need it.â€
Auman remembers another joint city-school project years ago that resulted in the original soccer field — the one now being expanded — and converted what is now Park Middle School from an elementary school to a middle school.
Controversy around that renovation erupted when the plan to remove 85 trees drew more than 100 environmental protesters who climbed the trees in an effort to stop their removal. The event led to 22 arrests and talk of recalling a City Council member.
Gary Irvin, who has lived across the street from the park for nearly 50 years and was involved in the original neighborhood organization, remembers that controversy and many other changes to Cooper Park over the years — many of which he was involved in making happen.
But he's frustrated by what he feels is a lack of maintenance and upkeep of the park over the years, despite residents' entreaties to fix things, and he worries neighbors' concerns about the current plans won't be heeded.Â
“It’s frustrating, knowing we don’t have any control,†he said.
The work going on now also has resulted in the removal of trees — more than residents said they were told would happen, but many fewer than 30 years ago. And Yost said new trees will be planted once construction is done.
Clark said she appreciates that city officials have taken time to listen to neighbors, but she just hopes the plan isn’t already a done deal.
“Obviously, we don’t really know what’s going to happen, but we do appreciate that they took seriously the concerns that came up and helped us be part of the conversation.â€
Renovations at Park Middle School includes installing a geothermal heating and cooling system. Wellfields for the system are being dug at the existing Cooper Park soccer field.
Renovations at Park Middle School includes installing a geothermal heating and cooling system. Wellfields for the system are being dug at the existing Cooper Park soccer field.
Orange construction fencing encloses part of Park Middle School in April 2021 adjacent to South Sixth Street, near where a new entry to the parking lot will be built.