Editor’s note: This story is part of a series examining the 10-year Parks and Recreation master plan approved by the City Commission. The plan is based on survey results from residents about what they want to see in Eudora and includes renovations to existing parks, new parks and other initiatives to better recreation in town.
Shade structures, new apps to teach people about the parks and free wifi are on the docket of eventual plans for various parks around town.
Renovations to Pilla Park are now confirmed due to a Community Development Block Grant from the state. The state will supply $650,000 in funding, with an additional almost $300,000 coming from the city.
The city has not yet received renderings from a designer as plans are still in the early stages, but renderings in the master plan include a veterans memorial garden on the side of the park behind City Hall, more shade structures, better signage for people’s entrance into town and other renovations to the play structures themselves. The plan also includes a zipline and renovations to the play structures.
The actual rendering will look different when the city receives bids, but the city’s initial ideas were included in the master plan:
New shade structures are a desire at many of the parks, as well as increasing coverage with the city’s canopy to provide more shade that way, Parks and Rec Director Sally Pennington said. A lot of the parks hold pieces of Eudora history, and that’s something they hope to build on, she said.
Adding QR codes could allow residents to learn more about the history behind the parks and surrounding Eudora, she said. Informational signs could also help teach people about the parks.
The department also wants to collect more data on where people are coming to the parks from, ages and other demographics about park-goers.
A few of the city’s parks are included in the plan’s “priority parks,” which signify projects that could probably happen sooner than later, Pennington said. Acorn Park, Pilla Park, CPA Park and the Wakarusa Boat Ramp are all included in that list.
The plan discusses additions that could ideally come to each park. For Acorn Park, at 15th and Acorn Street, ideas include a new shaded seating area, pollinator meadow, enhanced detention pond, street trees, a nature trail and new lighting.
For CPA Park, ideas include a multi-use plaza/stage, shelter and picnic tables, water play/fountain, seating, art, city welcome signage, tree planting and additional lighting.
Park bathrooms at either the boat ramp or a park to the east, like the softball/baseball park, are also a priority for future changes.
Renovations at the rest of the parks are also included in the plan, and include more signage, tree plantings, additional plans, shelter and upgrades to features for kids.
This year was the first time the city took over the baseball and softball leagues and maintenance. The city now has it earmarked to do recurrent maintenance on the east and west sports complexes.
“For a town under 7,000 people to have 10 parks, 3 miles of trails, a rec center, an aquatic center, I love that they put that all together,” Pennington said.
The department only has five full-time staff members, so with expansion they also have to consider what new roles they might have to fill.
Renovations to Pilla Park will be one of the major projects included in the 2026 budget for the Parks Department, Interim City Manager Zack Daniel said.
