In Support of Reid Park Master Plan
Progress on Gene C. Reid Park Master Plan
Survey 3 on Updated Master Plan Now Closed
On Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at the Family Festival in Reid Park, the Reid Park Reimagined planning team unveiled the latest Reid Park Master Plan concept developed with feedback from the community over the past six months. The design team, along with Parks & Recreation staff, were there to talk about the draft plan, answer questions, and solicit feedback on phasing priorities. The concept design was left posted in the park for a month following its initial unveiling to facilitate public awareness and engagement.
A third online survey was made available from Nov. 19 through Dec. 19 to offer details about the project and serve as an additional platform for input on Tucsonans’ priorities for the future of the park! That survey is now closed. Visit the project website to review survey results, or click here.
“Reid Park Reimagined: Survey Two” Feedback now Available
Tucson’s Parks & Recreation second survey on development of the Reid Park Master Plan is now closed. The deadline for submitting survey feedback was September 30, at 11:59 p.m. To review survey results, see Survey Two Feedback.
Submitted your survey and then had second thoughts? Or inadvertently lost your input while completing the survey form? You can submit comments to Sierra Boyer, Public Information Officer, Tucson Parks and Recreation. Send email to Sierra.Boyer@tucsonaz.gov. You can also send additional comments to Info@engageparkandzoo.com
Review Findings from the Plan’s Initial Discovery Phase
Watch this YouTube video about current progress toward developing the Gene C. Reid Park Master Plan. The video, with reporting by Eric Fink of News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV, features Tucson architect Bob Vint, a strong advocate for saving the heart of Reid Park. Vint led a group of Tucsonans in developing the alternative “G-Minor” concept “that addresses the legitimate concerns of all parties: a way to expand the Zoo within a reasonable budget, while saving Barnum Hill and its mature tree canopy, the south pond, as well as all existing public green space.” (See also Bob Vint’s A Path Forward.)
The team developing the Reid Park Master Plan has been busy analyzing the existing features of the site and collecting the community’s responses to the first survey for Reid Park Reimagined. Visit the team’s website to see what the community is saying, to review the guiding principles shaping the vision for the park, and to learn more about the park’s ecology!
English Website: bit.ly/reidparkreimagined
Spanish Website: bit.ly/reidparkreimaginedSP
For questions please email Sierra.Boyer@Tucsonaz.gov.
El equipo ha estado ocupado analizando las características existentes del sitio y recolectando las respuestas de la comunidad a la primera encuesta para el Parque Reid Reimaginado. ¡Visite el sitio web para ver lo que dice la comunidad, ver los principios rectores que ayudarán a dar forma a la visión futura del parque y aprender más sobre la ecología del Parque!
Sitio web en inglés: bit.ly/reidparkreimagined
Sitio web en español: bit.ly/reidparkreimaginedSP
Adapted from banner image on City of Tucson's website for Gene C. Reid Park Master Plan Development. Click image to visit that website.
Development of Reid Park Master Plan now underway
According to the Master Plan Development website,“The vision for Gene C. Reid Park is to be a welcoming and beautiful park in the heart of Tucson that provides places to recreate, connect with nature, interact with loved ones, and relax. The purpose of this master plan will be to figure out a design that achieves this vision.”
The master plan development process involves three major phases: DISCOVERY (April and May), VISION (June–September), and ACTION (September–December). The Master Plan website provides an illustrative timeline with details on what’s involved during each phase. During DISCOVERY, the team gathered feedback on stakeholder priorities for the future park via a map-based survey that closed Tuesday, May 31. By that same date, all ideas submitted on this SHRP website via our Ideas Survey were also transmitted to the development team for consideration.
Development has moved into the VISION phase. For analytics derived from the DISCOVERY phase and for details on what’s happening now during the VISION phase, please visit the Master Plan website. Also be sure to watch the August 28, 2022 video City of Tucson is a step closer to start expansion of Reid Park. With reporting by Eric Fink of News 4 Tuscon KVOA-TV, the video provides an update on recent developments and features Tucson architect and stalwart SHRP advocate Bob Vint.
Adapted from VISIONS image on City of Tucson's website for Gene C. Reid Park Master Plan Development. Click image to visit that website.
Hello Everyone,
The first week of May I attended two focus group meetings on the Reid Park Master Plan. Multiple focus groups met around the park and park offices for a few days. Other members of Save the Heart of Reid Park attended some of these meetings.
I met the women-lead team from Denver in charge of designing the Park Master Plan. I liked them. They asked the right questions and really engaged with the answers they were getting.
Their first question was: If money were no object and you could have anything you wanted in this Master Plan, what would it be? That question elicited some interesting responses. It was a nice way to get started.
Some constant themes were connectivity and inclusivity. How do we make it easier to get to one side of the park to another? How do we connect the gym on the northeast side with the rest of the park? How do we still walk or bike from west neighborhoods to the Edith Ball Adaptive Rec Center?
How do we make sure the park works for as many people as possible, including people who come to the Adaptive Center but later want to get to the park?
Many people seek better ways to take care of what we already have: Improving Iirrigation, planting more trees, and staging plantings with the right kind of trees.
Others want better garbage containers and collecting so garbage doesn’t get picked up by the wind as easily. Which points to the need for better signage. Signs letting people know how their garbage is hurting the ponds and wildlife. Signs instructing people to clean up after themselves or to pack out garbage if possible. (I took home a couple of bags of trash after the SHRP celebration party because there was only one trash can in the area of Barnum Hill. I didn’t want wildlife to tear open the bags.)
Effective signage could also showcase the park’s amazing history. And provide guidance on what to feed wildlife and what not to. Pretty signs about the wildlife with QR codes people can use to determine what birds and other wildlife frequent the park and golf course. Directional signs for parking lots. “You Are Here” signs with guidance to different places in the park.
Many people asked for art in the park and at park entrances to make Reid Park a more beautiful place to be.
Other folks asked for buffers on the 22nd walkway and more trees along the edges of the park because it is starting to feel very exposed due to tree loss. Some suggested moving the fences in along the edges of the golf courses so people can get off the pavement. The walkway can be very crowded and dangerous at times.
Lots of talk about taking down as many fences as possible and not adding more. Strong preferences for wide open spaces!
From one focus group came the suggestion to put in another pond (in a area where a fence was taken down) that wasn’t an irrigation pond so ducks could have more options and a more natural environment.
People suggested education options and tours of Reid Park. Working with the zoo or the University. Birders come from all over the Country to Reid Park. Birding is becoming more popular with younger people. More opportunities to know what we have here right in the middle of the City would be lovely.
Labeling and identifying trees like they do on the U of A campus.
Finding ways to give the wild life a break from harassment from dogs and people.
More shade in dog parks and more places to sit.
More benches around the south pond so people with disabilities can admire the pond and takes rests from walking.
A place to have food truck days or farmer markets was suggested.
There’s more, but this should give you a good idea of what people were looking for in the focus groups I was in.
There were other groups that may have wanted very different things so participate to let them know what you want!
Proposition 407 funds for Reid Park are on hold until they get a pulse from citizens on what they really want.
Be engaged! Use the links in the section above on Reid Park Master Plan Development to submit your ideas. Thanks you!
— Manon Getsi, Co-chair, Save the Heart of Reid Park
Salvemos el corazón de Reid Park: Información en español acerca de la campaña para salvar el parque.