News

Barge Selected for a Parks Master Plan for Lakeland

28 / June / 2021

Barge has been selected to create a master plan for a 100-acre park for the City of Lakeland, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis.

The City previously hired another firm to compile a master plan for the property when in pursuit of a Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) grant. Lakeland was awarded the grant for phase one of the park, a 15-acre section consisting of two multipurpose fields. Barge was selected to design this phase in 2018, and construction is about to begin.

As part of the phase one effort, the environmental studies required by the grant discovered that much of the area that could easily be developed contained wetlands and a stream. The Barge team developed a design strategy for phase one to fit with the environmental constraints and limit impacts to them.  Through this process, it became evident that the original plan would be difficult to develop as shown. Our relationships with City staff and our contextual knowledge of the site led to our being selected to devise this new master plan, focused on the remaining 85 acres.

The resulting design includes parking, multi-purpose fields, baseball fields, a picnic pavilion, a disc golf area, and additional amenities.

This 100-acre park will have multi-purpose athletic fields, baseball fields, playgrounds, picnic areas, and other spaces for passive use. Proposed plans include trails that connect to two other local parks: International Harvester Park and Cool Springs Park. This site is mostly wooded and features different terrains, so the design may take advantage of these factors with a ropes course, golf disc installations, and opportunities for natural trails.