Vail’s 2023 Ford Park Master Plan enters final stages of planning

The town of Vail is approaching the end of its more recent Ford Park Master Plan update, which among other things could seek to streamline its management and operations and bring improvements to how people move around the space.

The 2023 update is part of a recurring 10-year cycle for the master plan to revisit and update the plan, paving the way for future improvements and operations at the park. The town began the most recent update last summer and is planning to adopt it with the revisions this fall. It contracted WRT Design as the firm to assist in the planning process.

At its Tuesday, July 18 meeting, the Vail Town Council received an update on the progress thus far.

“We’re trying to make a document that can effectively manage changes or opportunities that might arise in the next 10 years without having to re-evaluate the whole thing or create an amendment,” said Andy Dawson, a landscape architect with WRT.

Since last summer, it has been engaged in a stakeholder process to understand the park’s current challenges and strengths and find opportunities for maintaining and improving it.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Dawson reported that these conversations had several themes including, at a high level, that Ford Park is a well-used amenity that while not “broken,” could be better.

Consistent with previous master plan iterations, “an overarching theme throughout this process has been that we do want to protect from overuse and overdevelopment,” Dawson said.

Better operations

With the 2023 Master Plan, one rising theme is the need for more efficient and streamlined operation of the park, not only by the town and Vail Recreation District but also by its partner organizations like the Vail Valley Foundation, Bravo! Vail, Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. 

“Previous Ford Park master plans have included a mix of capital improvement and management solutions to various challenges and issues active at the time. The follow-up actions that have occurred based on master plan recommendations have been heavily focused on the capital projects with less attention given to the management and operational tasks,” reads the Town Council memo.

Some of the feedback that Dawson shared from stakeholders was that some park operations and maintenance responsibilities are either “unclear or duplicative.”

What matters in your community, delivered daily.

Sign up for our morning newsletter at VailDaily.com/newsletter

With that, one of the plan’s primary recommendations currently being proposed is to formally acknowledge the stakeholder organizations as “permanent and integral to the fabric of Vail,” including setting annual contributions from the town and evaluating the lease agreements.

It also recommends setting up a Ford Park Stakeholder Management Committee with representatives from the partners. The goal of this group would be to coordinate maintenance, reduce schedule conflicts and increase overall efficiency.

This idea was met with support from a number of council members at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I really like the idea of a more formal, coordinated committee,” said Mayor Kim Langmaid. “I like the idea of a more holistic approach; it has evolved to a place where it really needs that, it’s so interconnected.”

Better mobility

While the 2023 update is seeking to improve Ford Park’s operations, there are also some specific improvements it suggests. While these are still being finalized as the planning process continues, there are suggestions for replacing or relocating a picnic shelter, enhancing park-wide signage, improving the tennis center, restoring the nature center grounds and facility and more. 

Many of the suggestions have to do with mobility, whether it’s getting to, in, or around the park.

Some of these — such as reducing pedestrian and vehicular conflicts, which Dawson said they witnessed “every time we visited,” or improving parking and transit — will come about naturally as the town works through its current Go Vail 2045 Mobility and Transportation Master Plan. The town kicked off the plan last summer and is aiming to have it completed by the summer of 2024.

“We’re going to allow the transportation master plan to address parking issues and transit issues, pedestrian and bicycle access because all of those things really are more of a town-wide topic than Ford Park specifically,” said Todd Oppenheimer, the town’s capital project manager.

However, one major suggestion would be to bring the park into compliance with American Disability Act standards.

“There’s inadequate compliance with ADA standards throughout Ford Park. We’ve done some preliminary analysis to understand how someone in a wheelchair or mobility impaired or with a stroller might go from the parking lot down to the Lower Bench or The Amphitheatre or the Nature Center — this is an important item to note that we are continuing to study,” Dawson said.

Later, Oppenheimer added that “not a single” route down into the Lower Bench of Ford Park is compliant with ADA standards.

“That is why we have a small number of accessible parking spaces down there next to the Nature Center bridge across from the entry to the Amphitheater because it is the only way — bringing vehicles down 30 feet below the Frontage Road — that we come even close to being compliant with the ADA standards,” he said, adding that for concerts when those parking spots are unavailable, The Amp uses golf carts for access, which is an imperfect solution.

While it is still in the ideation phase for solving this challenge, some possible solutions include walkway upgrades and improvements, elevator access to the north side of The Amp, and an internal park shuttle that moves people throughout the park.

Looking forward, the 2023 Ford Park Master Plan has a few more planning meetings — including with the town’s Planning and Environmental Commission — before the document returns to Town Council this fall for adoption.