COVINGTON, Ky. - Covington’s two biggest recreational assets - Devou Park and the Bill Cappel Sports Complex - will be the topics of discussion Thursday night at the last two meetings scheduled to get public input for the City’s developing Parks & Rec master plan.

 

“We saved these until last because there are a lot of people who live in Latonia and who enjoy Devou who we know have ideas, concerns, and suggestions,” said Parks & Rec Manager Rosie Santos. “We wanted to drill into the specifics on these, our largest sites, so as to greatly increase their use by the Covington public.”

 

Both meetings are at City Hall at 20 West Pike St. The Bill Cappel discussion will take place 4 p.m.-5 p.m., while the Devou discussion will be 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

 

Instead of a formal presentation, both meetings will feature a discussion format, with staff asking questions of attendees.

 

“You can stop in at any time during the discussions and stay as long as you want,” Santos said. “But the conversation will be moving from topic to topic. This is residents’ chance to make their voice heard while there’s time for us to take their thoughts into consideration.”

 

Devou is a 700-acre-plus green space that includes a golf course, hiking and biking trails, a fishing lake, and many other amenities. The Bill Cappel Complex features soccer and baseball fields, plus a water park and splash pad.

 

The City sees a lot of potential opportunities at both sites, such as more soccer, hiking trails and a bicycle “pump track” at Bill Cappel and more playgrounds and programs at Devou, with better accessibility from the urban core. But both sites are also subject to unique restrictions and limitations, Santos said.

 

Earlier meetings focused on Goebel Park, the possibility of a dog park in Covington, and the master plan in general. Consultant Brandstetter Carroll Inc. is helping the City write a long-term plan to guide future investment in facilities, sites, and programming.

 

Residents are also encouraged to fill out an online survey that can be found on the master plan initiative’s interactive website, HERE. The survey takes 5 to 10 minutes, and nearly a thousand people have already filled it out.

 

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