WEST OMAHA, NE. — West Omaha's Cryer Park is set to get a new playground, basketball court and picnic shelter, but residents of the Skylark Cryer neighborhood are questioning why the renovation won't be finished until the end of next year.
New playground and park designs have been shared with neighbors, even as the park has sat empty for months — longer than neighbors had hoped.
"Our big question was why it's going to be the end of next year before they get it completed?" Bob Sedlak said.
Sedlak, president of the Skylark Cryer Neighborhood Association, has lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years.
"The neighborhood is kind of changing over now. We have a lot more young people, with children," Sedlak said. "A lot of people are wondering why it takes so long for the city to do that."
He remembers when Cryer Park was exactly that — a park.
"[The] pool was closed and tore out by the end of July, I mean, they could have started work then," Sedlak said.
Kate Boren, the parks planner in charge of the Cryer Park renovation, said a phased approach to the project is necessary.
"Projects like that are typically more phased just because the cost of each individual feature is so much," Boren said. "We don't want to be cutting corners on things like that."
Some neighbors have suggested the park's size may be behind the extended timeline.
Boren said that is not the case.
"I know it might seem Cryer Park is a large space, but realistically, it's one of our smaller parks in the system," Boren said.
Sedlak said he can see Boren's point, but stressed that neighbors feel the project has been going on for too long.
"I can kind of see where she is coming from, but we have been at this for [what] seems like a couple (of) years now," Sedlak said.
