Canton Parks Improvement Plan Canton, Ohio
Services Provided
Urban Park Planning and Design
People Involved
Matt Manda
Cullen Meves
Michael Davis
Establishing a framework to improvements to Canton’s park system over the next decade.
The history of the Canton Parks system dates back to the late 1890’s when the Cook family initially donated approximately 33 acres of farmland to the City thus establishing the Board of Park Commissioners. Their mission of preserving, protecting, developing, and expanding the park system continues today. This plan sets out to accomplish the following goals as it lays out the vision for the Parks over the next 10 years:
Design the parkland as a recognizable image and provide clear orientation and understanding; maintain authenticity while cultivating a unique sense of place to attract people to live, work, and play.
Design opportunities for diverse experiences and encourage people to engaging in social and recreational activities with expanded access and recreational variety within the parks.
Design for access to Multi-modal Transportation Options and identify opportunities for Transit-Oriented-Development hubs.
Design for ease of use and access to destinations for all populations. Improve multi-modal transportation options and providing increased access for surrounding neighborhood residents to strategic destinations.
Design to create an engaging visual impression that appeals to the senses and fosters a sense of ownership and civic pride that is reflected by the inviting physical appearance and level of activity.
Design must consider up-front capital costs, and full life-cycle costs and benefits that meet future needs.
The MKSK team provided a Vision Plan that outlines the project goals, provides a summary of influencing plans, identifies capital improvements, develops an overall framework for the park areas of Stadium Park, Monument Park, Waterworks Park and City Field Park, and lays out a comprehensive vision for the priority park improvements.
