UPDATE: Royal Oakers Dish on Pool, Splash Pad, Tennis Courts, Maintenance, New Ideas and More

The Patch poll asking readers "What's On Your Wish List for Royal Oak Parks?" generated 98 comments.

Here's what your neighbors are saying about parks. 

Pools and splash pads

• Splash park and Swimming pool options would enhance area for older and younger patrons. The old Middle school at Church Hill would be my suggestion since there is still active classes there. The Pool could an addition to the basketball area. Additional exercising machines would be attractive as well. Today I use the Troy activity center as they have a pool, basketball, volleyball, and exercise machines.
• I am not sure why they are considering proposals to install a ‘splash pad’, swimming pool, or new pavilions when the existing park improvements have been so neglected. You may have noted the unplayable condition of the City tennis courts - well the ball fields seem to be declining to a similar state.
• I would love to see a splash pad or community pool. We are taking swim lessons through Troy because their isn't an option in Royal oak. We also pay $$$ to enjoy the outdoor pool in Troy all summer.
  
• POOL POOL POOL were still members of a pool club in Livonia and while its a long drive we love it and use it all summer long.
  
• A lot of the items on the list are for plans and investigation. I would like to see soccer fields centered at Royal high school/Quickstand and Worden parks. Also, the community pool like at troy would be huge. Most people I know, go to troy, I would like Normandy Oaks become a park similar to rochester park, with bike and roller blade paths. None of our parks are big enough to have bike paths. Most other needs are just maintenance and minor upgrades.
  
• I think additions like a splash pad, pool and amphitheater would be incredible benefits for families living in Royal Oak, especially as there is no sanctioned "community center" in the city. It would also be a great plus for families considering Royal Oak for their families.
  
• SPLASH PAD would be amazing!! Foresight to make it an area that could be flooded in the winter for ice skating would be really cool!
  
• Please update equipment at optimist park! Also a splash pad would be amazing! I love living in RO w young kids and these improvements would be great.
• I would love to have a community place to swim, possibly exercise. It would make this community mor desirable. Maybe the splash pad could be by this.
  
• May have been better if there were pictures next to each question. What is fibar? I think the splash pad will be the biggest attraction for young families. It gets my biggest support!
  
• I like the idea of a community destination park at the Normandy Oaks property. Running/walking paths, play structures, courts, fields and perhaps a splash park. I do not favor selling the property or any of the neighborhood parks. Maintaining and improving the individual neighborhood parks must take precedence over other projects. While a community pool is great idea, it doesn't seem to be something the city can afford to maintain long term.
  
• A community center with a pool would be a big draw for people to move here and stay here.
  
• Pool!!!
  
• A community pool or splash park would be something that attracts young families.
  
• Water play options in the city would be amazing. Splash pads would be the most economical choice. It would be a great addition to our city and attract young families. The parks in Royal Oak are one of our great selling points. I love that I can go all over town in the spring, summer, & fall and see families playing at different parks!
  
• It would be nice to have ammenities like a splash park or public pool so we can spend our money here in Royal Oak instead of giving our money to the Troy Aquatic center or the Warren Community Water Center. We live in Michigan, give us somewhere to go in the winter where the kids and adults can have fun and a place outdoors to enjoy when the weather is nice! Thanks!
  
• It would be great to have a swimming pool in Royal Oak! How can Pleasant Ridge and Huntington Woods do this? I think it would be another draw for the City. It would be nice if it was in a community area, where there were other things available like tennis courts, playgrounds, etc. Would prefer this over the splash area by far!
  
• A splash pad and a pool in RO would be awesome! It's no fun to drive to other cities to find these things.
  
• Putting sand in sandboxes and bark around playground equipment would be useful. I would like to know more about swimming pool/splash pad ideas.
• Top thing on our list is a pool. Its such a shame that we have to go the pleasant ridge and give them our money. We could be making money on this.
  
• A swimming pool would greatly increase property values. See, for example, Grosse Pointe Parks.
• Fix the tennis courts and add the pools/splash pads to attract and keep young families!
• Parks are a huge reason people move to Royal Oak, it was a huge consideration for us. Repairing and improving existing facilities should be a priority as well as a community pool. downtown has taken the money for way too long.
• With all the talk about Normandy Golf, I feel this would be a good place for pool / splash pad. Also place soccer fields on this land. Since the parks don't get mowed often during the season, this would allow numerous fields at this location and only needing to bring out the mowers once.
• Has anyone thought about using the land behind the ice rinks for a city pool and splash pad? Having it here would make a nice city indoor/outdoor facility. Then, move the Worden baseball/softball fields to Normandy Oaks and add tennis courts and basketball courts along with a large parking lot.
• Our children should not have to travel to other communities for splash pads and outdoor pools. Look to Warren and Dearborn.
• I grew up in a city that had a pool and community center. It was awesome for all the kids and parents in the community. We all knew each other and parents became friends and built a stronger community. We need good parks for kids to play at and a place for classes to be offered to the residents of royal oak.
• A pool would keep royal oak families in royal oak together building a stronger community. Not going off to troy community pool

Tennis courts

• Most of the City tennis courts are dangerously cracked - if sidewalks were as cracked they be condemned. The softball fields are also seriously subpar compared to surrounding communities.
• The tennis courts at Elks park are horrible.
  
• I would like to see new and better tennis courts, cleaner parks, and a cleaner downtown. First and foremost please the increase in graffiti and clean it up so no one has to see it!!!! Our town is starting to look trashing with everything tagged up everywhere!!
• I visit often and would love to see Tennis courts!!!!!!!!!!
• Need to improve the tennis courts to compete with Troy, Birmingham and other cities in the area; we are sadly behind!
  
• Fix the tennis courts! They are an embarrassment!
  
• Tennis courts are all in disrepair and need help. Please resurface a lot of courts.
  

Amphitheater

• Any thing for the arts...outdoor Amphitheatre is an awesome idea and one this city would definitely make good use of!
• I love the ideas that focus on finding additional ways to use the abundant green space we have and enjoy in Royal Oak. Specifically, the amphitheater is a wonderful idea! What a great way to boost events like Shakespeare in the park. This brings people to our town and gives local families yet another way to fully enjoy our parks. I also think adding bike lanes is just good business sense. This is very attractive to folks who are trying to decide where to live. I would also like to add that I think Royal Oak has some of the best parks in the region. One of the many reasons I love our town!
  

Bike lanes

• The wood chips at Star Jaycee are gross, that needs to be done, the tennis courts at Meinenger are jacked, they need to be fixed, we drive 1/2 hour with the kids to the Farmington and Warren splash pads, looking forward to that. We need bike lanes, it's embarassing Detroit and Ferndale have them and we can't get are stuff together to make them. Overall it's a good start!
• Think BIG, Royal Oak! Also, complete streets (bike lanes) should be its own thing and a priority for the city.
  
• Royal Oak needs a park with a paved path through out for walking and biking like Troy has in Robinwood Park. We don't need bike lanes in the street where we can get killed on a bike, we need a safe place to bike. We could put the path in Starr Park on 13 Mile Road, it has lots of trees to ride through. I think it would be used more than the Frisbee course there. We can also use a splash pad and a swimming pool. Royal Oak only has pools at the high schools which aren't available when we have time to use them, like on holiday weekends in the Summer. Troy has far more facilities for residents.
  

Waste of money

• It seems all the city govt wants to do is waste money on studies. Yes we need an amoitheater but there are probably only one or two parks that would accommodate one. Parking and noise would be issues in just about any park in the city. $8000 saved! Same thing with signage. People know where the parks are and if they are new and don't...a website can tell them where. New signage would just be an expensive make work program that wastes money that could be spent on things that would really benefit the people who pay taxes here.
• Swimming pool would be a drag on the city finances forever.
  

Maintain what we have

• Regular maintenance of parks (mowing, plantings) is highest on my list. Improving the safety of parks by planting hedges or such around them to help discourage children from running out into the street would be a welcome improvement. I would rather see us maintain what we have before discussing expensive changes to a select few parks.
• How about they mow the lawns more than twice a year? How about expand garbage pickup to year around?
• Top priority is to maintain what facilities we already have, and make repairs/upgrades to address existing problems.
• Maintenance at parks, simply cut the grass in warmer months, trim the trees and clean up!
• Trim the trees in the parks.
• I think that step one needs to be improvements at existing parks. This means a regular lawn cutting schedule at all parks, resurfacing the tennis courts & having year-round garbage cans with pick-up service being done regularly. I love the idea of a community center like Troy or Warren but the idea some people have of that happening at Churchill is nuts because that is where the school board offices are being relocated to. I don't want to see any parks sold for these improvements to happen. We need our green spaces not more big houses put onto small lots!
  
• Outdated plays capes with broken slides, no mark signs at gunn dyer park and roped off slide. Mowing leaves something to be desired as well.
  
• I think the city needs to keep it real. Our first priority should be maintaining the parks & their existing equipment/facilities before spending any dollars on any major new projects. The two parks I live close to are only mowed 2-3x per year - grass weeds get very high at times. Spring clean up is almost all volunteer work, and trash/litter cleanup is almost non-existent. Let's get those ducks in order before any talk of adding $4MM pools or $0.5M splash pads. Once we're to that point (if ever), then we can talk about new projects. Personally, I would much rather see us start with lower cost, lower maintenance additions -- like soccer fields, and tennis/bb/beach volleyball courts -- vs. high 1-time/high maint expenditures like pools & splash pads that likely will only benefit those with young kids.
  
• Tell me why they are considering all of these new installations when so many of the parks are currently in such disrepair. The condition of the tennis courts city wide are an embarassment! The conditions are nearly unplayable, even at the RO High School. The baseball/softball fields need attention.
  
• upgrade, maintain and market Royal Oak Golf Course
  
• In a time where kids are spending more time inside with electronics the City needs to make improvements to draw the outside.
  
• I think the most important thing is grounds maintenance. Mow the lawns! More garbage cans! Clean graffiti off play structures! Many times during the past summer we couldn't play at our neighborhood park(vfw) due to very very long grass and flooding.
  
• Fix what you have before you build more that will deteriorate just like the parks now.
  
• I believe the first focus must be on maintaining and improving neighborhood parks to provide a fun and safe enviroments for residents of all ages. Starting with the basics: maintain the property, play structures, courts, and fields. A splash park and outdoor pool are very interesting ideas, but with limited funds, take a backseat to maintaining each and every existing neighborhood park.
  
• Install indigenous landscape plantings that require little care, maintenance and water. Improve refuse collection (particularly Memorial Park)
  

New ideas

• Would like to see improvement to 4th Street median. This could be a beautiful gateway to the downtown area, but has been somewhat neglected for years. I would also like to see a more bicycle friendly city.
• We need more garbage cans or something to give adults and children initiative to clean up after themselves, maybe a sign or a child size garbage can. All the parks have trash around the playscapes.
• Convert the Churchhill facility into a newer community wide modern recreation center complete with indoor outdoor pool. The amphitheater could be here too.
• If the city decides to close Normandy Oaks golf course, winter uses could include a city sledding hill For residents. Snow removed from the downtown area could be dumped there to maintain Good sledding conditions. Cross country ski trails could also be an additional use for the green space.
• Should include an additional community center, with pool, bball courts, track, fitness center, etc..
• I would like jogging paths in the parks.
• What about a community gym center. With exercise equipment, lap pool lanes. Ect...
• Allow dogs in Tenhave woods. Park is not used at all but would get regular use if dogs were allowed there off-leash. There are no nesting birds there and dogs would scare the deer away which is a good thing. People would finally get out and walk there dog if they had a place to allow their active dog to run off-leash.
  
• I would like to see Meininger Park go back to being a dog park.
  
• I second the comment about a jogging path. I am often forced to run in the roads and even have cars swerve at me. I grew up in Mt. Pleasant and their park system is connected by a paved nature trail. It's awesome! It would be nice to have bike lanes in the roads, especially downtown. It's not a very safe biking city. We have a young daughter and plan to stay in Royal Oak for the foreseeable future, so obviously we are invested in the parks.
  

General comments

• I think it is great the city is thinking about upgrading the parks. I have young kids and we use the parks often.
• looks like there are ALOT of parks, but only one dog run and few Tot Lots...maybe look at adding those - would draw more people to the parks.
  
• i dont even know where most of these are...so i guess signage is important...i never notice the names of any of them, even the ones I frequent! Also, what about taking a part of one and making another dog park for the south half of the city?
  
• My kids are grown, but I do think it's important to make investments in parks that benefit families. City population demographics ebb and flow, but you have to take care of the infrastructure throughout (some of us hope to be bringing grandkids to the parks at some point anyway!)
  
• I think that is a great start to improving the city and adding more fun for the residents.
  
• I don't know what ADA stands for, can't offer an opinion on the second item as a result
  
• I think it is silly to be planning parks improvements (which are nice to have but not necessary) when the city does not have a sustainable financial model that provides basics such as public safety, maintains roads and other basic services. Keep in mind that even today, when the fire department comes to your house, they are billing your homeowners policy. All the Commission talks about is creating new fees or increasing existing ones and millages.
• The list is just a list. It lists the approximate cost of each project. I would recommend that whatever projects are selected that it is mandatory to indicate exactly where the required funds are coming from.
• From this list I'd like to see the items that bring families to Royal Oak. Without our families we will not be the best city we can be!
  
• This list demonstrates the importance of first-hand knowledge. Without visiting these parks, I can't tell, for example, which parking lots are in greatest need of repair. I wonder if this list was created looking at the city's demographic composition. We will never again be a city with 20,000 children. We will be a city with a large block of singles and young couples and a large block of older residents who have either lived here for many years or move here when they no longer want to live in large, empty nests in remote suburbs.
  
• I don't think "parking improvements" are important as far as parks are concerned. People aren't deterred from going to a public park by the parking experience. Concentrate more on the substance of the park. I was disappointed at how few soccer fields there are in the Royal Oak area. For how many great parks with large grassy areas, you could easily attract more people and increase their enjoyment of the area by adding two sets of goal posts and nets...and some painted lines on the grass.
• It's hard to prioritize without having any idea of the overall budget. I don't know what tradeoffs I'm encouraging.
• Good list
• Rats. Get rid of rats.
• I may be a senior.. but have been paying taxes in RO for 43 years With all the moblie and sit in front of tv's........the parks are a great place to run off steam! My boys enjoyed the parks and now I take my grandchildren..... They don't need "fancy" equippment and flowers... they just need the swings .. climbers and a bench to drink theirjuice!
• It is important to maintain or enhance the services provided to the various members of our commumnity, so they stay here. We don't need more parks, we need better parks/services.
  
• Cody Park needs kids swings and the sandbox redone.
  
• I think you shouldn't take away a neighborhoods' green space to spend on another neighborhood. No one will ever vote for anything that doesn't effect them. School mileage, library etc...
  
• very thorough list, especially am impressed with the posting of the pricing
  
• I would love to see some partnership with local businesses to donate funds to park improvement.
  
• wow-no park improvements South of 11 mile.whats so important about Memorial park?and the $$$ for signage -I'm sure any woddshop at the local schools could make-design them for less.swimming pool?take care of the roads first please!
  
• Take a look at the Warren Community Center. We need a facility like theirs.
• Upton Park is in need of new play equipment!
• Comprehensive.
• Keeping all the green space!!!!!
• Good choices.
  
• Good list. Some very good ideas. Please, the baseball and softball diamonds are the worst around.
  

• What's On Your Wish List for Royal Oak Parks?
• Readers Want New Playground Equipment, Amphitheater