Munn Park Revitalization Ideas Sought During Community Forum

LAKELAND, FL — Lakeland City Manager Shawn Sherrouse said he returned from a professional development trip to Carmel, Indiana, with a notebook full of ideas and new optimism about the potential of Munn Park, the city's town square.

Carmel is consistently ranked as one of the best places in America to live.

In 2022, Niche ranked Carmel ninth best place to live in America out of 18,515 cities, Livability ranked it 10th best place to live in 2022 and Money magazine ranked Carmel second best place to live in America in 2021.

Sherrouse said he was eager to see if the qualities that make Carmel one of the country's best cities can be incorporated into Lakeland. In particular, he was seeking ideas on how to transform Lakeland's town square, Munn Park, into the more vibrant and active pedestrian-based planned development he observed in Carmel.

“Carmel incorporated a number of active uses around their town square, and I immediately thought about Lakeland and our own downtown,” said Sherrouse. “We continue to look at ways to improve the experience our citizens and guests have when they visit downtown."

Pam Page, deputy director of parks, said the city has hired a consulting park planner and is now holding forums to gather ideas from residents.

“Munn Park is the front lawn of the community," said Page. "We are working with Pennoni, a landscape architecture and engineering consultant, in bringing that front lawn to life. The firm will share some concepts they have created during the two forums with hopes that the design elements will spur additional public input.”

The first forum took place Tuesday night and the second will be held Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. in the Magnolia Building at 702 E Orange St.

"The goal is to have year-round activity with a mixture of recreational uses in Munn Park," Sherrouse said.

He said the city has already made some headway in aesthetic elements including investing in decorative string lights crisscrossing downtown streets, hanging drip lights in the trees and expanding the sidewalks for more for outdoor dining.

"Over the past few years, we have introduced some really cool elements that helped create a downtown identity," he said. "These elements help create an ambiance inviting visitors to our downtown and we want that same excitement to spill over into our town square."

He said the next step is to transform Munn Park into an activity center.

“I really want the public to take ownership of Munn Park and I invite the community to share their thoughts on what recreational elements they would like to see in Munn Park," he said.

Ideas the city is exploring include creating a concession area, adding interactive public art such as pod swings, installing a dog park with artificial turf, incorporating a stage for live entertainment and offering activities such as bocce ball, a putting area and a giant chess board.

Residents who can't attend the forum can review the concepts and give their input in a survey. The deadline to submit surveys is Jan. 27 at 5 p.m.