Improvements are coming to Wilmington's Greenfield Park. Here's what you can expect.

Greenfield Park is approaching its 100-year anniversary and to continue its long-lasting legacy, consulting group McAdams has developed a master plan that includes three phases of park improvements and upkeep.

According to project manager Shweta Nanekar, the Greenfield Park project design team conducted site due diligence through reviewing previous plans, researching the history of the park and conducting site visits to understand the ground conditions. The team also held community engagement opportunities with city staff to help create the concept development and final master plan.

“The Greenfield Park Master Plan was undertaken with a few key goals in mind. Several of them are related to operations, such as addressing the staffing needs, landscape and maintenance, safety, capital projects and acknowledging the need for highlighting the park’s 100-year anniversary,” Nanekar said.

Currently, major features in the park include the 91-acre Greenfield Lake, seven pavilions, shelters and gazebos, the Hugh Morton Amphitheater, three playgrounds, a paddleboat dock and boathouse, two tennis courts, one skate park and five miles of paved trail.

Challenges that were observed by the project design team included aging facilities, invasive species and a need for more eyes in the park to address safety concerns.

Discover more: PHOTOS: Greenfield Lake Amphitheater through the years

Phase 1 of the framework for the plan focuses on the park’s preservation and operational challenges within the first five years.

“We are calling this the down payment on the investment the city is making to improve and enhance this park,” Nanekar said.

Park improvements proposed for this phase include improving lighting and cameras and clearing sightlines with vegetation management. Phase 1 also looks at replacing Lion’s Bridge and repaving the five-mile loop.

The assets and amenities that are not historically critical and do not need immediate maintenance and improvements will be the focus of Phase 2, which will occur in six to 10 years. The plan calls this phase a "mortgage payment" that proactively addresses needs and implements smaller scale aspirational projects. Improvements in this phase include renovation projects for the amphitheater area, management of the lake’s water quality, and investing in mile markers, seating and informative signage on the trail.

Phase 3, the final phase deemed “value creation” in the plan, looks at envisioning the future of Greenfield Park for the next 100 years.

“This includes larger scale aspirational projects and bigger improvements,” Nanekar said.

The project design team suggests the creation of better site organization. “This would create specific zones, such as a community zone in the playground area, a cultural zone in the amphitheater area and an ecological zone in the southern side of the park…the five-mile loop becomes the thread that connects these zones,” Nanekar said.

Next steps include addressing and identifying further needs of the park, as well as identifying the necessary budget.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Greenfield Park improvements planned by the city of Wilmington, NC