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DALLAS TWP. — A proposed disc golf course planned for Kunkle Park gathered support from local players at a public meeting Wednesday.

The neglected 56-acre park is one of two municipal parks slated for a facelift by Dallas Township supervisors.

Last year, supervisors along with representatives from architecture firm Barry Isett & Associates brainstormed with residents to determine what amenities were wanted by locals to breathe life into Kunkle and Dallas Township parks.

On Wednesday, Bryan Smith, chief landscape architect with Barry Isett, revealed a conceptual design for Kunkle Park that featured an 18-hole disc course with fairways ranging from 95 to 300 feet.

“That is a very small course,” noted Pete Sickler, a member of the Nesbitt Park and Bear Claws disc golf clubs. “It would be nice to extend this behind the (existing) baseball field, to the right side of that trail that leads up to the cell phone tower … .”

To attract players, the course should feature holes with a distance at least 300 feet, Sickler said.

Smith said there is room to expand the course but the dense evergreen forest may need to be “thinned out” a little.

“Having that dense cover is desirable,” Sicker said.

The park will also offer parking for 30 vehicles, a pavilion with restrooms, a stone trail around the perimeter of the park and an amphitheater.

Smith said a “spillover parking area” will be added to the final draft to accommodate disc golf tournaments that would bring in more players.

Disc golf players were eager to help. They offered their services to design the course and hold a tournament to fund the construction.

Smith also presented the final draft plans for Dallas Township Park, located between Lakeside Drive and Southside Avenue.

The 6-acre park was in disrepair and attracted vandalism. Redesign plans included park lighting and police surveillance cameras to help deter vandalism, Smith said.

Dallas Township Park will offer two playgrounds, one geared for 2- to 5-year-olds and a second for children 5 to 12. There will also be a skatepark; two dog parks, one for big canines and one for smaller dogs; trails; a splash pad for children; a pavilion with restrooms; an amphitheater and an all-purpose field.

A final plan for both parks will be completed and presented to supervisors by the November meeting, Smith said.

Supervisors plan to start the redesign of Dallas Township Park in 2018 thanks to a $236,194 state grant to fund phase one, which includes installing nature-themed playground equipment.

Supervisor Elizabeth Martin said the township has applied for $200,000 in additional state funding.

“We are waiting to hear on them,” Martin said. “There is legislation right now that is up for a vote that would end these grants. So please call (state Rep.) Karen Boback to keep this funding.”

Jim and Lisa McGee, residents of Southside Avenue, talk Wednesday with Bryan Smith, chief landscape architect with Barry Isett & Associates, about the location of planned gates to close off that entrance to the Dallas Township Park.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_DallasParks.jpg.optimal.jpgJim and Lisa McGee, residents of Southside Avenue, talk Wednesday with Bryan Smith, chief landscape architect with Barry Isett & Associates, about the location of planned gates to close off that entrance to the Dallas Township Park.

By Eileen Godin

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Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.