INDEPENDENCE — City officials want to know what features residents would like to see included in Memorial Park, a centrally located 26-acre site off Ky. 17.

IF YOU GO

Master plan questionnaires for Memorial Park are available at the city building at 5247 Madison Pike.     The survey also can be completed online at www.cityofindependence.org, and questions can be directed to city officials at (859) 356-5302. Surveys should be returned to the city building by 4:30 p.m. Oct. 12.

        The public's suggestions will be used to develop a master plan for the park, which includes a new fire station, playground, football field, shelter and walking trails, said Independence Administrator Mark Wendling.

        By early next year, a new senior center in the park is expected to open, and city officials expect to start building an amphitheater there next spring.

        Independence residents and park users from outside the city are asked to fill out a master plan survey ranking the importance of possible park programs and amenities. From 1990 to 2000, Independence grew 43 percent, making it one of Northern Kentucky's fastest-growing cities.

        Serving those residents are Independence Park, Sterling Staggs Park and Memorial Park, with a fourth — Marion Schadler Park — now being developed in the Lakefield Subdivision off Taylor Mill Road, Mayor Tom Kriege said.

        Memorial Park may eventually house a new municipal center, as requested by attorney Charlie Deters when he deeded the land to the city in 1996.

        The city's administrative offices, police, and public works are housed in three buildings, and the city building is so crowded that items are stored in bathrooms and a conference room, Mr. Wendling said.

        Also, patrol officers working on the second floor of the Kenton County courthouse in Independence lack their own work space, and the department cannot seek national accreditation because of its cramped second-floor quarters.

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