Ferndale pursuing feedback in meetings for Martin Road Park community space

FERNDALE — Over the past month, the city of Ferndale has begun holding open houses to get feedback for a facility at Martin Road Park.

The city held its first meeting on June 4 and second on June 27. The meetings were designed to brainstorm ideas with residents about the wants and needs for a facility.

After holding the first meeting in early June, Parks and Recreation Director LaReina Wheeler said that early feedback from residents indicated that they want a facility that’s “inclusive for all ages.”

“That was very prominent in the conversation — inclusivity for everyone,” she said. “Whether it’s, say, a rental for a youth party, or something for adults, or activity for adults and youth and seniors. It was also mentioned several times and in unison that this facility should be flexible so we’re not just stuck with one use, so we can be flexible, so we can use it for many different reasons and activities and programs.”

Other amenities discussed for a facility include some type of concession area that could flex its space into something else, and a room to hold meetings or be used for rentals.

“We don’t want it to just be a room that only can be used for one specific use, and where we can basically expand the uses of it to have opportunities for more community programs or community use,” Wheeler said. “Something else that the community mentioned was being able to have, they wanted the feel of the building to be warm. They want to be warm and like a cozy feeling where they can come and lounge, you know, use it as a warming area or cooling area, and just hang out in the facility as well.”

In terms of design, Wheeler said the clear want from the community was something that would have a “warm, cozy, comfortable, community feeling.”

“Sort of like an extension of Ferndale homes, since a lot of the homes aren’t that large,” she said. “They’re small and cozy. So they wanted (the space) to be more, they can only have so many people, you know, in the home, but this could be a space where they can expand and offer more programming or rentals or just a cozy environment.”

The June 27 meeting took place as the Woodward Talk went to press. The city plans to hold one more community meeting on Aug. 8. Both June meetings were held at the Detroit Curling Club at Martin Road Park; a site had not been confirmed for Aug. 8 at press time.

Resident Erin Molnar, who also is the Parks and Recreation Commission chair, felt that the wants from the community haven’t been anything “grand” and that residents are just looking for an indoor/outdoor community space and something that can support multiple seasons.

Molnar said she personally would like to see a meeting space for the facility that could be rentalable and used as a revenue option for the building.

“I think that’s important to have a revenue option in our facilities, or just kind of a flexible meeting space, where if people are sledding and it’s cold out, they could come in and warm up because we don’t really have an indoor meeting space currently with the closing of the Kulick (Community) Center,” she said. “This is not a replacement for the Kulick center, but it could still have a flexible, kind of casual meeting space.”

After the meetings are concluded, Ferndale will take the information gathered and the final plans will be contingent upon the budget and grant requirements, and what the city is able to obtain.

The city is looking to secure more than $2 million in grants for the project.

“Basically, the city will aggregate the feedback that we get from residents and community members …, and we will see, given the budget and given the grant or funding requirements, what can we include that people have said is a priority,” Molnar said. “What are the key themes and how can we include these in the project restrictions?”

Residents who are unable to attend the meetings are encouraged to submit their feedback in an online survey at surveymonkey.com/r/martinroadrecfacility.