Makeover underway for Fargo’s oldest park

Fargo Park District holds a meeting to get public input on what changes should be made at Island Park

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Island Park is undergoing an overhaul and is asking the public for their input.

The Fargo Park District is excited to make new changes to some of its parks, like Island Park, a staple for many in the Fargo-Moorhead community. Board members are seeking community-wide engagement to create a long-term plan to improve it.

“With the need for the renovation for the Island Park pool, and there was some community engagement there that suggested maybe we should prioritize the island park master plan just to confirm the location of that park. There might be another location for the pool in the park,” says Executive Director of the Fargo Park District Dave Leker.

The public shared their emotional connections to Island Park but also wanted to see progress for overlooked groups.

“A big initiative that I would like to work on, if elected to park board and even if I’m not elected to park board, I wanna see more facilities for children with disabilities,” says Park Board candidate Jacqueline Dotzenrod.

Dotzenrod also claims Lindenwood Park is the only accessible park in Fargo.

Other than getting people involved with general concerns, the Park Board wants its focus to be on sustainability, historical preservation and connecting Island Park to a broader community through updated bike paths and greenways.

“They’re gonna have several roundtables set up addressing different things. Whether it’s the location of the pool, what we do with trails or trees, some of the historical nature of the park,” said Leker.

People are starting to feel like their voices are heard and community engagement will create a master plan beneficial to everyone in the community.

“It’s really great to see so many members of our community have an interest and they want to be involved and I think it’s really great that Fargo Parks is hosting a meeting like this. To get people an opportunity to come, learn what’s going on and to be a part of the planning process,” Dotzenrod says.

The next public input meeting will be some time in April. Fargo Park District plans to have the master plan completed in May.