A brief history and explanation of its contents
The Tustees’ Garden Club began the Forsyth Park project in 2015 with a goal to “steward the park into the future.” The pinnacle of that project was the Forsyth Park Master Plan, completed by a project team in 2021 after about 11 months of community engagement. That engagement resulted in more than 4,500 completed surveys across three feedback phases, according to the plan.
The final product is a 299-page document that outline’s the park’s history and charts potential paths for the park’s conservation, preservation and design. Now, the plan is top of mind for many residents given it may serve as a road map for the park’s future through a proposed a memorandum of understanding with the Friends of Forsyth Park Conservancy Inc. and the city of Savannah.
“It’s really just a framework, a guiding framework for enhancements or preservation,” said Dolly Chisholm, Interim Chairman for Friends of Forsyth and a local lawyer.
The details of the MOU are being finalized between city staff and stakeholders such as Friend of Forsyth and the Victorian and Downtown Neighborhood Associations. The MOU requires city council approval and has been continued on multiple agendas while stakeholders work on its details.
Based on draft versions of the MOU made public in council agendas, the city would retain final say in any changes to the park and the master plan is referenced as a “guiding document.” Here is a look into what that master plan says, which is also available online through the city of Savannah.
More:Savannah Council again continues MOU with Forsyth Park partnership as stakeholders meet
Backbone of the plan: community engagement
The master planning process was broken into three phases: discovery, concept design and master plan. Each phase included its own set of community engagement. The bulk of that engagement occurred during the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2021-2022, and included Zoom meetings, canvassing in the park and online surveys.
The discovery phase surveyed park users about how often they use the park, what are its best features and what improvements they would like to see. There were over 2,300 survey responses during the discovery phase.
Most respondents said they visited the park multiple times a week or at least once or twice a month.
About 51% of those respondents were in the 24-45 range, and 30% were in the 46-65 range. For those that answered a survey question on racial and ethnic identity, 69% were white, 13% opted to not say, and 12% were Black or African American.
The project team took that feedback and developed two design concepts and conducted that phase’s community engagement based on those options. Finally, the master plan phase produced a draft plan and solicited feedback on it.
A look at what the plan proposes
Chisholm said some of the plan’s main goals are to preserve the park’s historic integrity and tree canopy, while also adding “enhancements” to elements such as lighting and bathrooms. While the conservancy is still in its infancy, some of its top priorities would be to enhance the lighting, alleviate city trucks parking within the park, adding restrooms to the south end and employing a park ranger, she said.
When it comes to survey results, the top three activities people said they used the park most for were leisure, special events and gatherings with family or friends. The next most identified use was personal exercise. Examples of types of programming respondents wanted were movies in the park, festivals, food trucks and performance art.
Some of the top requested features in the survey responses included more bathrooms, public art, water fountains, bike paths and trees. Preserving the park’s tree canopy was also a top priority gleaned from community feedback.
More:‘It’s really about making smart decisions.’ Final Forsyth Park master plan proposal completed
Goals for canopy conservation include treatment recommendations for each tree, all of which were surveyed for health and well being. It also includes tree protections through ground-level plantings and permeable pavements on the southern central spine, a plan for planting new trees to replace dying ones, and placing new Live Oaks near the dummy forts.
There is also a preservation element to the plan through its inventory of existing structures, monuments, markers, pavement, fixtures and furniture. The plan proposes to preserve the park’s core elements such as the central spine, the perimeter path, the dummy forts and the open lawns.
“I really see the plan as a resource for those things,” Chisholm said.
Along with its various conservation items, the plan also proposes potential design changes. The major design elements noted in the plan included widening the perimeter path to include designated bike and walking lanes; moving the playground by the western dummy fort to the park’s south end, next to the basketball courts which would be moved further west; replace that playground with passive recreation and gathering space; and replacing the current band shell with a new stage.
Chisholm said the conservancy is not married to specific design elements identified in the plan, which are meant as potential guides based on the plan’s community feedback.
Those design elements are aspects that give some neighborhood leaders such as former VNA President Ryan Madson cause for pause. Madson said he thinks there are some disconnect between some proposed design changes in the plan and how people use the park. However, the plan’s conservation elements are likely very useful, Madson said.
“We want to keep the good stuff and continue to poke holes and critique the stuff that may be problematic,” Madson said.
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