Lawton City Council to look at security upgrades, new amenities for Elmer Thomas Park

City Council members will be looking at security upgrades and new amenities for Elmer Thomas Park when they meet today.

The proposal for security cameras centers on three parks, as part of what Ward 8 Councilman Randy Warren and Mayor Stan Booker call a proactive initiative. After council discussions, the proposal is to direct city staff to issue a Request For Proposals from entities that could install the cameras in key locations in the parks, as an effort to “create a safer environment” while deterring criminal activities and enabling faster response times to incidents within public places.

The proposal outlines 12 cameras in Elmer Thomas Park: four at the Holiday House, four at Playground in the Park, three at the Miracle Field and one at the splash pad; 10 in Greer Park: six on the buildings, two at the tennis courts and two at Kid’s Zone; and seven at McMahon Park: four on the skate park and three on the concession area. Officials have made what they call a “broad estimate” cost of almost $350,000 for the security lines and equipment needed for the project, excluding the cost for power poles and data plans.

Warren and Booker also are asking the council to discuss two amenities for Elmer Thomas Park: an amphitheater on the park’s east side and completion of a sidewalk around Lake Helen. Neither idea is new: in its master plan, Halff Associates discusses an amphitheater as one of the ways city leaders could enrich the park by creating a venue to host activities ranging from concerts and theater productions to community gatherings. The proposed location is southwest of Lake Helen.

Lake Helen also is the location of another amenity city staff has been exploring for more than a year: a sidewalk. A sidewalk already exists along the south and west sides of the lake, curving north on the lake’s east shoreline to reach several military-related memorials. City staff has been searching for potential funding sources for that sidewalk for more than a year, with plans to complete the sidewalk on the lake’s eastern and northern edge to create a paved walking path that encircles the lake.

In another item associated with recreation, Warren is proposing the council discuss the idea of transferring control of the city’s aquatics programs and facilities to the Lawton Youth Sports Trust Authority. That authority was created last year to take control of programs and facilities associated with youth sports, and its board has hired Eastern Sports Management to handle day-to-day activities.

In his agenda commentary, Warren said the trust authority was tasked with promoting, creating and growing youth sports, something city officials said the entity and Eastern Sports Management already is doing with youth and some adult sports programs. Warren has said he would like to see the same thing happen with aquatics.

Council members already are discussing the city’s aquatic amenities, which includes two spray parks, three wading pools and a municipal swimming pool. The aging pools need extensive repairs, and council members have debated the idea of converting the wading pools to spray pads and closing the pool in favor of an aquatics complex in Elmer Thomas Park.