VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — For years requests to improve Seatack Park in Virginia Beach's historic Seatack neighborhood have gone without action, but that could soon change.
"Oh man you gonna put a smile on my face from ear to ear," Donnie Gregory, president of the historic Seatack Civic League, said.
Gregory was at Tuesday's city council briefing where a presentation was shown for potential upgrades to a more than 50-year-old park he grew up on.
Watch: Historic Virginia Beach community makes national register, preserves history
"As a boy it wasn't called the Seatack Park it was called Viking Park and it wasn't as formal as it is now," Gregory said.
Gregory said a lot has changed since he was a kid including the expansion of what is now S. Birdneck Road.
He said the added roadway took away part of the park's parking and left residents with only a few spaces on a gravel lot.
He said recently a family who has called Seatack home for generations couldn't hold their family reunion at the park because there wasn't enough space.
So they moved it to another city.
Watch: Virginia Beach's Seatack community nationally recognized
"From what I understand they had to go to Chesapeake Park because Redwing wasn't available but in the past they would have their stuff right in this park," Gregory said.
What's offered at Seatack Park could change over the next few years as parks and rec presented ideas to the city council on adding amenities like a bathroom, a large shelter, and a paved parking lot.
"It seemed like for years that the community had asked for an enlargement especially when they took away by putting a new road in the parking area," Gregory said. "They've [residents] always asked for these amenities, and it always looks like it was put off."
The total cost would be around $3 million but some city council leaders feel this would not just be an investment for residents in one neighborhood but for the entire city.
"If this is a community park it will also serve the residents of the Old Beach Resort area as well as Shadowlawn as well as potentially the resort," council member Worth Remick, who represents District 6, said."The sports center is right around the corner. So it's not just a neighborhood park it's a community park."
At the end of Tuesday's discussion, the city manager told the council he would bring forth legislation at a later date to move forward with improvements to Seatack Park.
The playground for the park is also set to be replaced next year.
