DAYTON, Ky. — The city of Dayton kicked off a half-million-dollar wave of park improvements Monday by unveiling a GaGa Pit at Gil Lynn Park — a project sparked by local students.
The GaGa Pit was implemented after Lincoln Elementary School student council members met with Dayton Mayor Ben Baker and city administrator Jay Fossett weeks ago to discuss improvements to Gil Lynn Park.
A GaGa Pit is a fast-paced, dodgeball-style game played in an octagonal pit with walls. It was placed in the park adjacent to Lincoln Elementary, Dayton High School and the school’s new athletic complex.
The city and Dayton Independent Schools surprised the students with the GaGa Pit installation on April 14 after they returned from spring break.
“When we met with members of the student council, they provided us with a lot of good ideas about how to improve Gil Lynn Park, but construction of a GaGa Pit was by far their top priority,” Baker said.
The GaGa Pit is the first of many improvements slated for city parks in the coming year, and it will likely cost about $500,000. The city’s park tax, which has seen a substantial increase in revenue in recent years due to new developments, will fund these improvements.
“In addition, the city’s park board recently made several recommendations to the city council for improvements it would like to see in Gil Lynn Park and Sargeant Park, and city staff and city council discussed these recommendations at its day-long strategic planning session that was held this past Saturday [April 12.].”
At the Dayton City Council meeting last Tuesday, the council approved a contract to spend $111,300 to improve the pavilion, garage, bathrooms and concession stand at Gil Lynn and the pavilion at Sargeant Park.
Other Gil Lynn Park improvements recommended by the city’s park board and city staff are:
- Construction of four pickleball courts ($145,000)
- Replacement of playground equipment ($200,000)
- Resurfacing basketball courts ($40,000)
- GaGa Pit ($4,000)
“We are very fortunate to have seven great public parks in our city,” Baker said. “Gil Lynn is one of our largest parks and our most active park, but it is starting to show its age, and these improvements will make it a more inviting public space for our children, our residents and our visitors.”
Baker said that because of its proximity to the high school and elementary school, the school district and its students are the heaviest users of the park. The high school baseball and softball teams both play their home games on fields at Gil Lynn Park and the football team uses the park for its practices. In addition, the schools use the park for gym classes, recess, and special events, and students also use the park after school and on weekends.
“Anytime we can just empower kids and put them in opportunities to allow them to grow and to see how city government works, and be able to voice their opinions in a positive way, I think, is beneficial to them,” Said Dayton Independent Schools Superintendent Rick Wolf. “The fact that student council members met with you guys [mayor and city administrator] was their idea for a GaGa ball pit. They’re part of the opening ceremony. I mean, that’s going to mean the world to them.”
The city of Dayton and Dayton Independent Schools will both contribute funding to construct new playground equipment at Gil Lynn Park. Much of the existing equipment is about 25 years old and in poor condition.
“I just think it’s so imperative for schools and cities to meet together just to talk about what can we do to just make things better for our youth,” Wolf said. “I mean, that’s why we’re here, right? I just think it’s so impactful.”
Sargeant Park improvements
The city has also invested in Sargeant Park in recent years and continues to do so.
Sargeant Park is located in the southern part of the city, with more than two miles of natural hiking trails and several branches of Covert Run Creek running through it.
In 2021, the city invested about $200,000 to construct trails and make other improvements to the park, which was funded by grants from the Kentucky Recreational Trails program ($91,000), L’Oreal ($80,000), Duke Energy ($2,000) and the city park tax fund ($17,000.)
Last year, the city obtained another $120,000 grant from the Kentucky Recreational Trails program to improve the existing trails and construct new trails in the park. This trail project was recently completed, and the new and improved trails were opened to the public a couple of weeks ago.
In addition, the city is working with the Northern Kentucky Stream and Wetland Restoration Program at Northern Kentucky University to undertake a major stream restoration project in Sargeant Park. This project will address erosion problems caused by Covert Run Creek, remove dangerous trees and incorporate other improvements to the park and its ecosystem.
These improvements are expected to be in the range of $1 million when completed.
