PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth still needs a community recreation center, as well as a facility for the fastest-growing sport around — pickleball.

The hiking trails and fishing spots at Melville are hidden gems of which more people should take advantage. 

The dog park is great, but could be even better if lights were installed.

Those are just a few of the findings expressed in an online survey and workshop last week to gather feedback for a master plan designed to ensure that local residents’ parks, recreation and open space needs are being met — now and in the future.

The Town of Portsmouth, working with the Parks and Recreation Committee, Parks and Recreation Director Wendy Bulk and the Horsley Witten Group, has initiated the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan project and is seeking citizen input. An online survey (see story at left) has already garnered nearly 300 responses and the first of two workshops with residents was held last Thursday at Portsmouth Middle School.

The plan builds off a Facility Conditions Assessment that was completed in 2019, and seeks to understand how residents utilize parks and recreation amenities, if existing facilities and programs are meeting the needs of residents, and what the projected future trends in parks and recreation are.

At last week’s workshop Craig Pereira, senior planner from the Horsley Whitten Group, said the success of recreational programming has been growing exponentially, and its needs cannot be fully met by the current facilities and resources available to the Recreation Department.  

Existing facilities examined

He detailed some of Horsely Whitten’s site assessments of the town’s facilities, including historic, neighborhood and community parks; playgrounds; sports fields; beaches; and other facilities. In general the town’s fields are in good condition and well-maintained, he said.

There is room for improvement, however. There could be better American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance in certain areas, such as playgrounds, the Weaver Cove boat ramp, and Sandy Point Beach (getting from the parking lot to the beach is difficult for some people with disabilities, he pointed out). 

The Gardner Seveney Complex at Glen Farm is a great facility for local sports leagues, but there’s a glaring problem, Pereira said. “The only thing is that storage is limited. There’s one shed there for sports leagues to utilize,” he said.

Mount Hope Park, a town-owned waterfront park that evolved from a partnership between the town and the Aquidneck Land Trust — Horsely Whitten developed its master plan — has been cleaned up and opened to the public. However, a lack of funding has prevented the park from being fully developed to meet its master plan’s vision.

Pereira pointed out several other improvements that could be made: better lighting to expand use, an upgrade and facelift of basketball courts, better “connectivity” between recreational/open space sites and residential areas, and the use of more technology at sites to enhance user experience.

Regarding that last point, Pereira said he was particularly impressed by what his team found on the grounds of the Portsmouth Historical Society, which has posted QR codes near historically significant exhibits, so visitors can look up additional information online.

“The Portsmouth Historical Society I found really interesting because they’re incorporating technology into their site,” said Pereira, suggesting that other local historic sites do the same.

Another problem Portsmouth has is that recreational program is limited to the summer and spring due to the lack of an indoor facility. Bristol and South Kingstown, he pointed out, has offerings year-round because those towns have indoor spaces.

Residents’ input

Likewise, it appears that many residents are clamoring for a community/recreational center as well, as they’ve made that opinion known on the master plan project website as well as an online community survey. In the online survey, Pereira said, almost half (47 percent) of respondents said they were willing to pay an additional $75 in taxes annually by supporting the development of a new community center.

The public input on the website and survey also pushed for inclusive playgrounds and upgrades, covered arras for picnic tables, an ice-skating rink, splash pads, more adult and senior programming, more sidewalks to connect areas, more safe biking and walking trails, and a community shuttle to transport children to recreational sites after school.

Pereira then broke the workshop participants out into three groups — two with about 10 people each at the middle school, and another made up of people online. Each group was asked three questions, and here’s what they had to say:

• What is working well? The Portsmouth Dog Park and the trails and fishing spots at Melville Park got high marks, as did the many programs for school-age children, Sandy Point Beach, the recent improvements to Butts Hill Fort, ALT trails, access to coastline, community engagement and volunteering, and the Portsmouth Historical Society’s QR codes.

• What’s working but could be improved? Despite the love for the dog park, some said the installation of lighting  would increase its use, as well as better parking. Another resident said the town needs to step up its PR game and put together a GIS map to identify all the different parks, open spaces and historical sites, including breakouts for their amenities. In a similar vein, a few residents said they love the trails at the Glen and Melville Park, but there could be more signage, including information on the areas’ rich history, as well as some physical improvements at Melville. Other residents asked for better parking at Mount Hope Park, more safe bikeways and pedestrian trails, and improvements at Teddi’s Beach in Island Park.

• What’s missing? Pickleball courts! Although this topic didn’t come up much during earlier public engagement, many of last week’s workshop participants said Portsmouth is behind other towns in providing a facility for what is deemed today’s fastest-growing sport. (The town, however, has applied for a grant that would transform the abandoned basketball courts on the former Elmhurst School property into a pickleball facility.) After that, a multi-purpose community/recreation center appeared to be the top selection. Also mentioned: an aquatic facility, bike paths, and an outdoor performance space 

More information

To learn more about the master plan and how to get involved, visit the project website at https://portsmouthriparksandrecreationmasterplan.com; or contact Wendy Bulk, director of parks and recreation, at wbulk@portsmouthri.com, or Craig Pereira, project manager, at cpereira@horsleywitten.com.