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MAYVILLE – Preliminary draft plans for Mayville’s Lakeside Park improvements were shared with the community Monday night, with the plan focusing on improving amenities to stimulate economic growth across the region.
“It’s those types of things that we can do in the park to activate it. To improve the quality of life for the current residents and also attract more outside people, more tourists, in order to improve the economic vitality of the area,” says Mark Geise, Deputy County Executive For Economic Development.
According to community input gathered for the project, street calming measures, beach enhancements, additional boat launches, a skating rink or splash park, hiking trails, and green infrastructure are among top priorities.
Mayville residents Kate Barr and Mark Perry see a lot of potential with the plans.
“If we can keep this natural and develop it to the point of getting a lot more traffic here, it’ll grow up into the village and help our village,” says Perry.
Barr explained that a pier, with various shops and a restaurant, could bring the community together.
“Perhaps use the performing center as a space for people to come down and do yoga classes or community interests that people have. Maybe free, maybe five dollars, but another place that people could come and do what they like to do,” says Barr.
Perry believes a comprehensive plan by the village would increase the odds of acquiring state grant money for the projects.
Those who attended the meeting were able to vote for their favorite version of each idea, to decide which vision will be brought to life at the park. Ideas to keep people who already utilize the area to lengthen their stay were also discussed.
“You’ve got all these snowmobilers coming through here. Well let’s do some more things to give them reason to stop and to spend money here,” says Geise. “You’ve got the ice fishermen, and then of course I talked about the skating rink that would provide an activity for young people during the winter months.”
Though the downturn of the Lodge Project has put the future of that land in question, Geise is hopeful that it could be turned into another feature to draw others to the area.
Sorena Gilkinson, President of Mayville Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce, says area businesses rely on the type of tourism the new improvement could bring.
“The park is definitely an asset that we have that we need to utilize. Businesses really depend on everything that we can offer in the village, so having this here means it brings other people into other businesses,” says Gilkinson.
The Deputy says input from the meeting will be used to tweak the plan, which will only become finalized if the village board approves it. Once approved, individual projects would be put forth for funding.
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