There’s a certain satisfaction to makeover stories with an extreme “before” and “after.” From faces to homes, we love seeing someone—like Cinderella—or something achieve full potential. Such total transformations turn the old into the new, and often, the more dramatic the change, the better. That’s the recipe behind the success of the ABC television show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” where families with a heart-tugging story come home to find an entirely new and customized dream abode.

When it’s a local park, the mega-size makeover benefits the entire community, often yielding decades of valuable tangible and intangible benefits. Such major renovations, however, take years of careful planning and loads of money. At a time when budgets are tight, park planners scheming major renovations to public spaces must make wise decisions and figure out how to move ahead through permits, funding, and more to design a park worth the investment.

Parks & Recreation scouted four recent dramatic park makeover projects across the country to find out how they did it—and pass on what they learned.

Poplar Bluff Skate Plaza
When a new 19,000-square-foot skate plaza opened in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, last July, it had been 10 years in the making.

Skateboarders had asked Clark Allen, director of Poplar Bluff’s Parks and Recreation Department, for a dedicated skate park for more than a decade. In addition, “these kids weren’t the kids we typically see in organized sports programs,” Allen says, “so we knew there was an underserved group of youth out there.”

Through research, Allen learned that the street-skating culture preferred an urban environment. “It was already the place that they were practicing their craft: on curbs and ledges, in front of post offices and libraries, and in places where there were ramps and stairs,” Allen says.

To capture an urban feel, Allen began to scout sites downtown, which was once a vibrant center of commerce and community but now features banks, government buildings, and social-service agencies. Planners hoped a new plaza would help revitalize the city and bring back the former glory of shops and downtown life.

“We knew if we built the right kind of facility, we would not only get the kids, we would get their parents and generate interest from outside the community,” explains Allen, who hoped shops and restaurants would open in turn. A central downtown location would also make it easy for kids from all over town to get there by foot, bike, or skateboard.

They settled on a city-owned urban plot that had been many things in the past: a city jail in the early 1900s, the city hall until the late 1960s, and most recently, a vacant lot. In addition, it had been unappealing for other projects because the basement of the razed building left a below-grade surface.

To fund the new plaza, Poplar Bluff received a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health’s Healthy and Active Communities initiative, which sought to address youth and childhood obesity and fitness. The $250,000 grant paid for the lion’s share of the $450,000 project, with the remainder coming from the parks department and donations.

To make the project run smoothly, Poplar Bluff park officials searched for a design firm with enough experience to anticipate potential pitfalls during construction that could put the project over budget. In the end, the city selected Action Sports Design, now Stantec.

Challenges to the project included mitigating an empty underground petroleum storage tank left from an earlier era. But Allen found that getting approvals from various departments was easy: “We’d been working on this long enough that we had pretty good buy-in from the community and the Missouri Foundation for Health,” Allen says.

Allen and his team researched and studied other successful skate plazas to design a park that skaters would use. Designers made sure angles, elements, and general flow were technically alluring to skaters of all levels—from pro-level to amateur skaters. “We tried to build something that was attractive, had a lot of art and color in it, and looked like an urban plaza,” Allen says.

In addition, they wanted to preserve the local historic connection. Designers left original stonework, stucco, and brick walls—complete with some of the original jail cell bars. “There’s a coolness factor to this spot,” Allen says.

The Pines Municipal Golf Course
When officials in Pompano Beach, Florida, decided to completely renovate one of the city’s two 18-hole championship golf courses, they gave players a reason to visit by making it a high-profile course designed by world-class player Greg Norman.

“South Florida golf is very competitive and seasonal, and there are a lot of choices, so as a business we have to give people better products and choices so they choose us,” says Greg Martzolf, Pompano Beach’s golf course manager.

The 50-year-old Pines course was outdated and needed a more current design, explains Martzolf. Renovations included new “Celebration Bermuda” turf grass, new bunkering, rebuilding of 18 greens, new irrigation systems for both of the city’s courses, replacement of fairways and tee boxes, new golf-cart pathways, and more.

After putting out a request for bids, the parks team was impressed with Norman’s vision and presentation. In addition, since the champion golfer resides in South Florida, the local connection was appealing.

“He did a wonderful job of reshaping the golf course using the original layout, and he made all the greens more modern,” Martzolf says.

A few adjustments to the original plan—such as adding concrete golf-cart paths and a high-quality irrigation system—added to the total price tag, which was just under $4 million.

To make this expensive project go smoothly, the city manager involved all city departments, from departments of finance to engineering, administration, risk management, and public works, to collaborate throughout the entire project. “I think the City of Pompano Beach did a nice job of getting everyone together to work as a team,” Martzolf says.

Kettering Recreation Complex, Water Park, Neighborhood Parks, and an Environmental Center
In Kettering, Ohio, the parks department had waited years for the right time to renovate. “We had been on a tight budget through the 1990s,” explains Mary Beth Thaman, director of Kettering’s Parks Department. “As other cities were spending money, we were saving money.” That meant that although city parks, pools, and the recreation center were well maintained, they were extremely dated.

Five years ago, when staff decided it was time for major changes, the first step was a city-wide survey to see what residents wanted and if they would support a bond levy to pay for the improvements. From the survey, the parks department planned a $17-million project funded by a $12.3-million bond levy, $5 million from the general fund, and other sources.

Renovations spanned the city: The recreation center now has 8,000 square feet of updated fitness space and more rooms for group exercise. Outside, the completely redesigned water park is compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines and has some of the highest and fastest slides in the county. The indoor pool, which was covered by a 1970s bubble, now has a permanent retractable roof that’s more energy efficient. Splash pads were added at two sites. The 16 neighborhood parks—connected to neighborhoods with multi-purpose paths—received facelifts with updated paths and custom-designed, themed playgrounds. “We have an ideal situation in our city, where we have parks within a mile or half mile of every home,” says Thaman. Lastly, the new 2,800-square-foot environmental center, slated to open this spring, will include classroom space, gardens, and exhibits that promote conservation and stewardship.

Such a suite of major renovations didn’t come without challenges, which included resident neighbors who objected to the original planned site of the environmental center. Thaman and her team worked with the residents to find a site that satisfied everyone. “We wanted it to be an asset for the entire city and for the people who live around it, not something they have to tolerate but something they want in their backyard,” says Claudine Heizer, Kettering’s communications and marketing manager.

To keep the projects in line with residents’ desires, Thaman and staff went to dozens of meetings with neighborhood residents and followed up afterwards. In addition to working with four designers—EMH&T, MSI, Moody-Nolan, and Alan Sherr Associates—Thaman met monthly for four years with a team that included a budget manager and a project manager. She credits those monthly meetings for keeping the project under budget.

“You need to have a strong advocacy group and do a couple years of homework before you go out for any levy,” Thaman advises. “You need to look at what the biggest bang for your buck is going to be.”

Macombs Dam Park
When planners decided to swap the existing Macombs Dam Park with the Yankee Stadium site, park-goers were less than happy. But “we promised that we would build facilities that were superior to the facilities that were being usurped by the new stadium,” says Charles McKinney, principal urban designer for the New York City parks department.

Now, the new $35-million, 17-acre Macombs Dam Park and Joseph Yancey Track & Field encompass the footprint of the old Yankee Stadium, the rooftop of the below-grade parking garage for the new Yankee Stadium, and the shorefront of a former industrial area. To connect with the site’s history, planners designed one ballfield’s home plate and second base to align with the original Yankee’s bases. In addition, the new park features a 400-meter track, a field for soccer and football, basketball courts, handball courts, landscaped viewing mounds, a playground, and a grandstand.

To maximize space, planners sank the parking garage into a moat so that the land above could be used as park land. An old industrial building on the waterfront was restored and adapted for locker rooms, a café for the new tennis courts, a new operations headquarters for the parks department, and a children’s museum. The park also has a picnic area, a water spray area adjacent to the Hudson River, shade structures, and more.

To design and build the best park possible, the city selected a number of consultants, designers, architects, and other companies, including architect and lead designer Clarke Caton Hintz, conceptual designer Thomas Balsley Associates, consultant architect Wendy Evans Joseph Architects, and engineering consultant Stantec, as well as construction groups.

A project of this size and scope, however, came with its share of challenges, including necessary mitigations where part of the parkland was a former gas station. In addition, the waterside location meant some of the ground was unstable. As a result, the tennis courts had to be built on pilings, which drove up costs.

Because the community was anxious to have their park back, and the new stadium had to be operational before the old stadium was torn down, “it made for complex scheduling,” says McKinney. In the end, however, the community was thrilled by the quality of new park, McKinney says. “It’s important to work with the community as you’re developing the plans to build their confidence that what you’re going to deliver will exceed their expectations.”

Shady Lane Park
NRPA’s Parks Build Community® initiative is an extreme makeover with a purpose—to show the transformative value that urban parks can bring to a community. Begun in 2008, Parks Build Community® projects have been completed at Marvin Gaye Park in Washington, D.C., Selena Butler Park in Atlanta, Georgia, and the El Sereno Arroyo playground and children’s nature play garden in Los Angeles, California.

Planning and design are nearly complete for the latest Parks Build Community® project at Shady Lane Park in Houston, Texas. The existing park at Shady Lane in north Houston serves a predominately Hispanic and African-American community composed in large part of families with young children. The existing park contains a small community center, an outdoor court, a soccer field, and a modest playground, all of which are heavily used by members of the community, many of whom walk to the park.

NRPA, in collaboration with the Houston Parks & Recreation Department, Houston Parks Board, and nearly a dozen partners, has been working for the past year on the design of the latest Parks Build Community project to serve this neighborhood. Once complete, it will feature a new nature-themed playground, the core of which will be donated by PlayCore, a longstanding partner and donor to the Parks Build Community projects.

The new playground at Shady Lane has been designed by Merrie Talley of Talley Landscape Architects in conjunction with M2L Associates Landscape Architects. The plan is still undergoing minor revisions but is already in final construction-phase drawings. The playground will contain a water play feature, a mini wetland with a replica bayou boat with interpretive signage, a climbing log, and trail connections that will eventually link to a future trail system along Bretshire Basin, a major bayou restoration and flood-control project of the Harris County Flood Control District and the City of Houston Public Works Department. The project was recently selected for a $220,000 Urban Outdoor Recreation grant by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

Mark your calendar for 10:30 a.m., Thursday, October 10, and check the Congress program if you would like to visit this remarkable Parks Build Community® project and attend the planned dedication ceremony.



Carrie Madren is a freelance writer in Northern Virginia.