Lions Lake Park Preliminary Program Elements

                            April 29, 2009

• Dredge Lions Lake
• Reshape lake per Master Plan to provide extra park land around edges of lake for pedestrian movement/use
• Around existing shelter area on east side
• Southeast corner parallel to Hale Lake Road
• Western side of lake parallel to Rotary Drive
• Create (2) forebays – largest forebay in northeast corner, smaller forebay in southeast corner
• Wetlands enhancement in wetlands and adjacent lake shoreline to blend forebays into lake – 2’ depth underwater shelves for aquatic plant life

• Continuous Trail Network Around Lake
• Material:  concrete
• Width:  minimum 8’ for safety and ease of users
• Connections to adjacent pedestrian paths:  Culp Park Trail, baseball field across Rotary Drive, future trail on south side of Southwest Boulevard
• Any crossing of surrounding roads will need ADA ramps and striped crosswalks for safety

• Potential sidewalk along Hale Lake Road
• Dependant on improvements to Hale Lake Road
• Potential cost sharing between Parks and Recreation Department funds, City funds, and County funds

• Benches around lake and Junior Fishing Pond
• Phased in over time to create more seating areas around park
• Bench(es) could be purchased by community members as a memorial

• Wooden boardwalks across rock weirs separating lake from forebays
• 42’ height railing required where fall potential is greater than 30’
• Interpretive signage on each boardwalk
• 15’ gazebo on northern boardwalk to provide refuge/viewing area

• Improvements/Enhancement of Existing Shelter – east side
• Improved shelter to include restroom facility
• Capacity of 8-10 picnic tables

• Shelter House signage – design relative to new park signage

• Improvements/Enhancement Existing Shelter – south side
• Future expansion to include unisex bathroom
• Ensure ADA accessibility to existing play area
• New concrete walks

• New gazebo style shelter west of Rotary Drive with associated parking lot (2-4 spaces) with view to lake
• Will require some vegetation clearing to provide views to lake

• Upgrade Existing Concrete Picnic Tables to new park department standard

• Interpretive signage
• Quantity:  3-5
• Location:  forebays, wooden southern hill, fishing dock, and north bank
• Potential Sizes:  4”x5”, 18”x24”, 24”x36”
• Material:  fiberglass embedded, high pressure laminate, porcelain enamel, laminated prints, etc.
• Subject:  wetlands ecosystem, pond/aquatic life, Oak-Hickory complex, address geese problem (no feeding, or dumping feral geese at lake)

• Aerator Fountain
• To be lighted at night (variable color screens)

• Rock Waterfall at Spillway (west of Rotary Drive)
• Limestone blocks around and beneath lake outfall pipe to create small water fall
• 42” height railing around top of spillway for safety

• Rain garden north of Southwest Boulevard and East of High Drive to collect excess ground water
• Designed to drain all standing water within 24 hours
• Excess water will be collected within an area drain and piped to Junior Fishing Pond
• Mostly native plants to ensure drought tolerance and lower maintenance requirements

• Junior Fishing Pond
• Temporarily used as spoil decanting for Lions Lake
• Clean up existing vegetation and thin sycam ore trees (remove all invasive vines)
• Once dredge material is removed, increase depth of pond, allow to refill and create a junior fishing area – ages 12 years old and under

• Geese Maintenance Plan
• Remove feral geese from lake (and all future dumped ‘pets’)
• Plant shrubs and other intermediate height vegetation to discourage geese (especially around northern shore)
• Implement a ‘No feeding policy’ to discourage aggressive geese behavior

• Existing Pond (West of Rotary Drive)

• Enhance existing pond and convert to junior fishing pond

• Fill existing pond and create soccer/multi-purpose  field