Community input paramount in Krug Park's future

The city hopes to bring enhancements like improving accessibility and providing updates to areas in the park that are in need of care. 

Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities Director Chuck Kempf said this project might be the biggest project in the history of the city parks system. This is in large part due to the over $13 million that can be used through the city park sales tax and CIP funds. 

"The bottom line with the park tax funding and the CIP funding is money matters, it truly does. You have to have money to make significant change," Kempf said. "That significant tax funding makes a difference. It will help us restore the things that we need to restore, help us create some new opportunities and modernize the park to a certain degree that will that that everybody can appreciate."

Other improvements include demolishing the restroom structure by the playground and replacing it with a new structure. There will also be changes to the amphitheater. 

Another goal is to make the park more of an attraction for residents. Kempf noted the large turnout of over 1,000 people at the Krug Park-A-Palooza, which is just one example of what they hope will be a normal showing for events on property.

However, in order to make these improvements happen, the parks department wants the residents of St. Joseph to have a say. 

On Thursday, July 13, residents will have the opportunity to do just that with the Community Engagement Open House at the Missouri Theater from 4-7 p.m. This will be the first of three separate sessions where the community will work with the city and the selected consulting team over the next several months. 

With the large amount of legwork and money put into this project, having the community involved was a no-brainer, Kempf said.

"We know things need to be improved, we know things need to be made accessible, we know things need to be made safe, but we want to know what the public would really like to see Krug Park look like ... there's a lot of different options," Kempf said. 

There is still more to be determined on what Krug Park will look like down the road, but the hope is to modernize the park while still maintaining its historical layout. 

"We want to modernize, but we also want people to understand the history ... so that younger families and younger people will appreciate it and want to use it as well as the as the older generation that appreciates it and grew up with the park in a certain condition so that everybody can appreciate it and take advantage," Kempf said. 

After the public session next week, the next session is expected to be held in September. There will also be an online survey made available to the community on the future of Krug Park starting on July 10 and closing on July 24.