Hayden Devises A Master Plan

Barbara Tennery wants the people in her city to close their eyes and forget the Hayden that is riddled with strip malls, clunky development and no real sense that it’s a city all its own.

Imagine a village.

As many city officials will attest, Hayden has a long way to go before residents can open their eyes and see that happen.

But with infrastructure improvements, the building of a community center, a community park and sports complex, the village concept will come closer to reality.

“Hayden’s citizens don’t want to be a bedroom community,” City Council member Nancy Taylor said. “This is business associations, citizens, special interests and the city pulling together in a common direction.”

Tennery is responsible for a major part of that direction, inspired by the revival of her hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., decades ago.

Now she is leading the efforts of the Gem Community Citizen’s Group. Today at 1 p.m. the group will host a public meeting at the Hayden City Hall, where it will unveil master plans for a proposed senior/community center, a community park and sports complex.

The group is asking residents to attend and share views on what the center and the park should offer.

Hayden’s population has more than doubled since 1990 to nearly 9,000 residents. Two years ago, the city became a Gem Community, an Idaho Department of Commerce designation that helps towns fulfill an economic plan.

Tennery’s group is eligible for community improvement grants, like the $10,000 matching grant it got from the commerce department last year. The money paid for a newsletter and for consultants to develop a master plan.

The goal of the citizens group is simple: to better the city of Hayden through community involvement. Since it achieved Gem status, the group has spent most of its time assessing the city’s needs.

The final product of that assessment emerged this year when the city finalized its mission and vision statements. The main goal is for the city to look and feel like a village.

Other goals are Tennery’s ideas: a senior/community center and a community park and sports complex.

The expanded park would be at Diamond Park, at W. Lancaster Road and U.S. Highway 95. On the drawing boards are plans for baseball and soccer fields, basketball courts, rugby fields, open areas and, eventually, a field house.

The senior/community center would be built at the Hayden City Park and would have a stage, a large dining room, a computer center, meeting rooms and multipurpose rooms.

These are rough ideas, Tennery said. That’s why the Gem committee needs public input.