Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting Review of Parks Master Plan - January 21, 2026
Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting Review of Parks Master Plan - January 21, 2026
An Allentown Parks and Recreation Committee meeting was held on January 21, 2026, to review the city's comprehensive parks master plan. The plan, developed by Simone Collins Landscape Architecture with extensive public input, is scheduled for adoption at the February 4 city council meeting. Committee members Councilperson Santos, Councilperson Pungo, and Councilperson Binder were present, along with parks and recreation staff and the consultant.
Discussion Items
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Presentation of the Parks Master Plan: William Collins, principal at Simone Collins, presented the plan, which includes a citywide park system analysis, infrastructure assessment, program evaluation, and management recommendations. The plan features a toolbox of improvements (safety/access, recreation facilities, environment/ecology) applied to each park, success stories, and a financing overview highlighting Allentown's success in securing grants.
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Solar Parking Canopies: Councilperson Pungo inquired about integrating solar panels over parking lots, similar to a Bethlehem school district example. Collins noted it was not detailed in the plan but falls under the sustainability coordinator's purview. Mandy confirmed the city is researching solar opportunities.
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General Obligation Bond and Master Plan Parks: Councilperson Pungo asked which of the four specific park master plans (Bucky Boyle, Roosevelt, Fountain, McCo's Plaza) are included in the $18 million GO bond. Mandy responded that Fountain Park and Franklin Park (not one of the four) are included. Bucky Boyle is not included due to reliance on public-private partnerships; Roosevelt has partial improvements budgeted separately.
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Fountain Park Design and Phasing: Questions were raised about budget constraints for the ambitious Fountain Park concept. Mandy explained that the design process will include public input and phased implementation based on community priorities and available funding, with the master plan serving as a first look.
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Indoor Facility at Fountain Park: Councilperson Pungo asked about an enclosed, heated/cooled rental facility with a kitchen. Mandy confirmed this is a high priority and is included in the Fountain Park master plan concept. Councilperson Binder noted the plan includes a cooling mist area instead of a pool, and discussion ensued about the trade-offs between a pool (historical interest, high operating costs) and an indoor facility (year-round use). The final decision will require further community input.
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Boardwalk and Creek Access: Councilperson Binder asked about a boardwalk shown in Fountain Park plans. Mandy explained it responds to community desire for safe water access (fishing, walking) without swimming, given city ordinances.
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Safe Streets Integration: Councilperson Pungo asked whether the master plan addresses traffic safety outside parks. Mandy and Collins noted collaboration with Public Works on Safe Streets for All recommendations, and that all four master plans include accessibility improvements beyond park boundaries, aligning with the mayor's objective.
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Staff and Public Engagement Appreciation: Councilperson Santos thanked staff for outreach events and acknowledged community volunteers. Mandy thanked council members for attending public meetings.
Key Outcomes
- No formal vote was taken; the parks master plan is scheduled for adoption at the city council meeting on February 4, 2026.
- The master plan (Island Sound Comprehensive Recreation and Park Plan) is available on the Allentown city website.
- Future discussions on specific park designs, especially Fountain Park, will continue with public input and phased budgeting.
Meeting Transcript
Alrighty, I'll give everybody a chance to get back to their seats so we can get the parks and recreation committee started. Just give everyone a chance to wrap up their conversation. Thank you so much. All right. Let the record show that my committee members, uh, councilperson Pongo and Councilperson Binder are here. Um, and the purpose of today's committee is to review the parks master plan. And we do have our consultant here to provide us with the information, and then there will be an opportunity for questions and comments. Um the plan is scheduled for adoption at the council meeting, scheduled for February 4th. And with that, I'll let you guys take it away. Great. Thank you so much, Councilperson Santos. Um, I'm just gonna open up with um letting everyone know that we have a lot of the parks and rec staff here tonight. So if there are questions, um behind me we have Priscilla Reyes, the special events lead. Um, and I'll just introduce because I know with the two new um committee members, just to start getting familiar with some of the faces, um, and also Lucinda Wright, who is deputy director of parks and recreation. Um, Veronica Vasanak, sustainability coordinator. And then we have uh Chris Hendricks, who are recreation manager, and um Bryn Hefner Baer, who is our project coordinator, so she helps us with our all the capital projects. Um and also I'm grateful that Becky Kiss is here from the Board of Parks and Recreation. Becky's in the back. So um I we wouldn't be here if it weren't for all this help for the last year or so um working on this plan. So I'm really grateful for the team that has helped us get to this place. So and with that, um, I'll turn it over to um Simone Collins. We have uh Bill Collins, who's the uh proprietor of that um organization, and he's gonna talk for a few minutes and then really just leave it open to a lot of questions. And as um Councilperson Santos said, we'll have time between now and the next uh meeting. If there are any follow-up questions, I'm happy to go into detail because I know um some of the new members weren't here for all of the discussions that happened last year. Um so that's it. I'll turn it to Bill. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is William Collins, I'm a principal at Simone Collins Landscape Architecture. I'd like to thank the city council for um uh retaining us to do this project. It was an important project for us, and I'm going to present uh um a few slides and leave time for questions tonight, and anything else that we can't answer tonight, we'll we'll get back to you. But um can you go back a slide, please? Um first of all, I'd like to thank um Mandy and her team. Uh you have a terrific department here. Um we it was a steep learning curve for us to get up to speed and and anything we needed, we got to help. Um you should be proud of the proud of your team. Uh this is our team. Uh we had landscape architects and two certified rec and and parks professionals. Um everyone was engaged in the public involvement as well as the planning and and assessment. Next, please. The acknowledgments, there's really too many people to to thank and and recognize. Um, this is uh the list of the project committee. Um, this the city staff and the parks and recreation team. So thank you to those folks. And I see that there's folks here tonight who um are citizens who participated actively. Uh you had active um council representation. Councilor Gerlock was uh at every meeting or almost every meeting, and that was really important to us. Thank you. Um I'm going to go over this uh this project um so that you have a framework of how to approach it and get the information that you need over time.
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