As Goodwill Park nears full completion, Morris addresses criticism

The City of Morris and JSD Professional Services addressed criticism over the design of Goodwill Park on Monday after Arthur Hornsby spoke at a previous City Council meeting and took out an ad in the Morris Herald-News asking for safety issues at the park to be corrected.

JSD Professional Services addressed the criticism in a letter to residents of the City of Morris.

“The new park was designed to meet the requirements for the American Society for Testing Materials, International Building Code, and state and local requirements,” reads the letter. “The recent improvements, described below, serve to benefit the entire community and were carefully planned to improve this neighborhood park and ensure that it’s ready for the next generation of Morris residents to enjoy.”

JSD said circulation throughout the park was improved to be ADA accessible and connections were added across the park that they said improves access for all users.

“Prior to the renovation, the playground did not meet current safety standards,” the letter reads. “The park redesign has created a fully accessible play area, and the play equipment was selected to maximize play value while maintaining ASTM safety standards. Required safety surfacing depth has also been provided to meet critical fall heights to protect park users. In addition, the mature, existing trees were saved to maintain shade for the playground. This led to an overall reduction in square feet for the swings, but the team was able to introduce an ADA accessible swing for children of all abilities to be able to participate.”

Hornsby shared a list of issues in his letter, one of which was the lack of playground equipment. The old playground had more types of equipment and four swings, where the new equipment has one.

Hornsby is also concerned that enough of the land in the park isn’t flat enough and creates a safety hazard.

“What once was a flat ground surface now has a drainage ditch beginning in front of the public restroom,” Hornsby’s letter reads. “The ditch proceeds toward the northeast corner of the park. There is a 25-foot around funnel-shaped hole with a storm sewer that it flows into four feet below ground level. If trash plugs up the storm sewer, then the funnel-shaped hole will fill with water. If a child chases a toy into the water, it could be life-threatening. The open hole is also in the middle of a very large play area that is now preventing neighborhood from playing non-organized games like football, soccer, kickball, etc.”

JSD said regrading the area was required to improve the ballfields while ensuring the area would return to usable condition after rains sooner because of the improved drainage.

JSD also addressed issues Hornsby has with the new bleachers.

“The existing bleachers at Goodwill Park also did not meet current safety standards for separation between seats or height,” JSD’s letter reads. “The new bleachers have a maximum height of 34 inches, which is the tallest height allowed without fully enclosing the top row with a guardrail to prevent falls.”

Hornsby said the bleachers are too short, and cause a person sitting’s knees to bump into the back of the person sitting in front of them.

JSD said beyond its technical expertise, it prides itself on developing plans to balance each community’s unique set of needs and goals for their park.