FLORENCE, Ky. — Major upgrades are coming soon to half a dozen parks in Northern Kentucky and the community has the opportunity to weigh in on what it likes and doesn't like.
In 2024, people in Florence shared what they wanted to see and developers went to the drawing board to design some of the renderings.
Officials plan to improve several parks including Kentaboo, Stringtown, South Fork, Orleans, Lincoln Woods and the city's skate park.
The city wants to add splash pads, nature zones, climbing boulders, shaded areas and disc golf to the parks.
An in-person open house took place Tuesday, Jan. 21 at the Florence Nature Center.
Eric Hall, Public Services Director for the City of Florence, said that these designs combine the work of officials and residents.
"We’ve spent the last year to get to where we are today," said Hall.
Anyone who did not attend the open house can also view all these changes online and submit comments here.
The phases for these projects will depend on the budget decided by Florence City Council. Hall told WCPO those meetings will take place later this year.
"Council will have the hard task of deciding how they want to fund these and how they want to phase them and what projects they want to prioritize," said Florence Mayor Julie Metzger.
Residents showed the city which upgrades and projects they wanted completed and prioritized at the in-person event, by spending play money on certain changes.
"The transformation and what they are doing is awesome," said Florence resident Sienna Thompson.
Thompson, the founder of the nonprofit For Family By Family, said her organization uses the city parks frequently and there are still concerns and changes she wants added.
"I had discussed with one of the former council members that we would definitely want it to be well-lit because when it gets from dusk to dawn we still want to make sure that the kids are safe and that it's well-lit," said Thomspon.
Hall told WCPO the exact price of each project and upgrade isn't set in stone yet, and will be a major decision and discussion made by the city council down the line.
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