Tisbury Vision Council to discuss designs for Owen Park

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The Tisbury Vision Council is looking for community input on ways to improve Owen Park. – MV Times

The Tisbury Vision Council will hold a public meeting Thursday, June 9, at 7 pm in the Tisbury Senior Center to review and discuss conceptual designs for the rehabilitation of Owen Park. Up for discussion will be three designs drafted by Mashek MacLean Architects and landscape architect Wes Wirth.

“This is a way to help us get to a final proposal by looking at things that could happen, and have the community comment on the things that they really like, and the things that they think might not be so good,” planning board and vision council representative Cheryl Doble said. “Then what will happen is the design team will take the feedback from this meeting, and move forward with a design proposal that fits better.”

The Vision Council began as a way to help the public be more involved and up-to-date about how the town is working toward future goals. Made up of approximately 12 people, it includes planning board members and a Department of Public Works representative. In January, the group identified Owen Park as its first big project, and began discussing improvement ideas for the park overlooking Vineyard Haven Harbor.

Prior to that, the council gathered information on the park for months, including researching its history, collecting pictures, creating a timeline of changes to the area, and surveying the current conditions. They also interviewed frequent users of the park, including former harbormaster Jay Wilbur, boat owners in the mooring field, a representative from the model yacht club, band members who perform in the gazebo over the summer, and the film festival that screens movies there.

Tuesday’s meeting is another step toward creating a definitive master plan for the park, based on the community’s ideas and opinions.

“We’re really going to be talking about big ideas at this meeting, and we’re hoping that what will come out of this is a master plan for the park,” Ms. Doble said. “It will be a physical plan, and it won’t be something we’re able to do in one year, but it will have phasing strategy with it. It will give us something that the community can really get behind.”

Ms. Doble said the goal is to have a master plan created by August. So far, costs for the design process have been covered by Community Preservation Act funding approved at town meeting. Last summer, Tisbury resident Paul Doherty also held a fundraiser for Owen Park improvements. Once the master plan is complete, Ms. Doble said, the Vision Council will look to raise money for implementing the improvements through grants and local fundraising events.