People walk the Trinity Episcopal Church labyrinth in Ashland.

A labyrinth at Chuck Roberts Park is a step closer to reality after the Talent City Council approved an amendment to the city’s Parks Master Plan to add the feature.

Ted Hilton Walker proposed the labyrinth to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission as a way to honor his deceased daughter, Willa, who died in 2020. The commission recommended the council support the project, which it did in early May.

“The next step is the committee members and the Parks Commission need to come up with a final design,” said City Manager Jordan Rooklyn. That will need approval from both the commission and the City Council. Costs will be determined and sources of funding examined. Fundraising has been suggested as one way to create the feature.

Walker is now on the commission and will lead the subcommittee that will work on a final design and other aspects of the project, said Charley Cross, commission chair.

“He hopes to do this with a lot of volunteer effort,” Cross said. “So this will be a real community project.”

Location for the labyrinth has yet to be determined, said Cross. He noted that the council’s action listed the labyrinth with a one-to-two-year priority level.

The labyrinth might be located close to the existing playground and splash pad in the park’s eastern part near Talent Avenue. That location is shown in a report submitted to the council and is near a favorite tree of Willa’s, who played in the park often and was a student in Talent schools.

A labyrinth features a single, meandering path, often unicursal, leading to a center. Labyrinths are an ancient archetype dating back 4,000 years or more, used symbolically, as a walking meditation, choreographed dance, or site of rituals and ceremony, among other things, according to The Labyrinth Society website.

“I think it’s really sweet. My wife and I had visited the labyrinth in downtown Ashland,” said Cross, referring to the outdoor labyrinth at Trinity Episcopal Church. “I don’t have a lot of personal experience with them. It just causes a kind of focus, so that will be a neat thing. We don’t have anything else like that in Talent.”

The report on the project, prepared by Wheeler and Talent Public Arts Committee Chair Donna Ruiz, suggests a timeline with construction by the end of the year. The labyrinth could also be a joint venture with the arts committee, Talent Urban Forestry Committee and Friends of Talent, the report suggests.

Construction cost for 40-foot diameter labyrinth is estimated to be up to $10,000. Design templates for the feature are available for $500 to $1,000. Stone, gravel and surface materials are estimated at $2,000. There would also be native shrubs and six large bolder, signage to instruct users. Donations of labor from businesses and citizens are suggested to help with construction.

One idea in the report, from Jeffrey Bales, is to build it with stones or decomposed granite, which would minimize maintenance for city Public Works staff. He also suggested planting a habitat garden around the labyrinth that draws birds and pollinators.

“The city has also expressed an interest in helping with this financially, although there is not a specific commitment there,” said Cross.

Councilor Jason Clark cast the lone dissenting vote against putting the project in the master plan, Rooklyn reported. Clark said he wanted more information. Clark also suggested finding another location than the one shown in the report because the feature is viewed as contemplative in nature but would be next to a playground, said Cross.

Most councilors thought it would be a real asset for the city and a very special addition to the park, Cross said. No one spoke during the public hearing, and no emails opposing the labyrinth have been received at the commission’s website, which Cross monitors.

In another park development, the city’s Budget Committee has approved funding for a new tennis and pickleball facility from fiscal year 2023-24 expenditures. City Council would need to approve the expense. The present Chuck Roberts Park courts are closed due to extensive cracking, which makes them unsafe for play.

New courts could be located in the parks upper area in accordance with the master plan developed in 2020. The plan shows one tennis court and four pickleball courts between existing ball fields and the railroad tracks.

The current courts would be torn down and would likely be a grass area for a while, Rooklyn says. The master plan call for the area to become a toddler’s playground just beyond the existing playground.

Asphalt on an unstable base has led to the cracking at the present courts, said Cross. The commission is looking at alternatives to asphalt for the new courts, which would be more expensive but hold up better.