Committee looks to bring township park 'up to speed'

The Commerce Township Parks and Recreation Committee held a meeting on Monday, March 28 to receive input from community members on what they would like to see included in Hickory Glen Park’s concept plan.

According to Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman Bill Petsch, the committee is hoping to “bring our parks up to speed” and do so by constructing a concept plan to be integrated into the township’s master plan.

“This gives us a chance to ask the community to tell us what they want,” he explained. “Typically what happens at these community input meetings is we bring out an aerial view of the total park as it is today, and then Wade Trim will present different ideas about what to do for the master plan. The community will break up into groups and give input of what they liked to see in the design. We then gather all the data and Wade Trim comes back for a site plan for the park which can then be put in master plan. So if for example, leagues want to build new fields, they have to follow the master plan.”

Currently, Hickory Glen is home to baseball diamonds used by Lakes Athletics and the Lakes Area Hawks football stadium. Petsch said both organizations do a great job of installing and maintaining the fields.

However, the Parks and Recreation Committee isn’t sure the land has been used as efficiently as possible.

“What happens over time is that fields get put on whatever is the flattest piece of ground because of limited finances. And it’s not the most efficient use of the property. We want to try to maximize the ground and develop a concept plan that would efficiently use the land that we have,” Petsch explained.

Also incorporating a concept plan for Hickory Glen into the master plan would allow greater opportunity to apply for grants, according to Petsch, because “to apply for grants you have to have a master plan (for the area).”

The committee will be meeting again to discuss the concept plan for Hickory Glen on April 25.