As you can read on today’s front page, the Minot Park District has big plans for the future, the key word being “plans.”

There has been growth and development in Minot’s past that did not always involve a lot of real planning.

Not this time, though. The Minot Park Board and staff is doing it right. They seem to realize that it is important to consider how all of the pieces of the park district fit together, that all parts of the city have a park or some feature to get people outdoors. Activities being planned for are ones that people today and tomorrow will actually enjoy, such as cross-country running and mountain biking. That takes vision, something the current administration does not lack.

One thing that we especially like about the current park administration is the long-term thinking they are doing. A new master plan is in the works, and the projects already on the front burner are solid ones. Such as a new 18-hole golf course that will ultimately replace the nine holes at Souris Valley that are prone to flooding. The plan both increases the number of holes available for public play and solves the flooding issue.

The idea has been out there for years so the golfing and non-golfing public has had ample time to weigh in. That, too, is part of what constitutes good planning.

A proper sledding hill, more playgrounds, a downtown gathering place, improvements for Polaris Park; it will be interesting to watch how each one of these ideas come to fruition or dies on the vine.

It will also be interesting to see whether such a large expansion of Minot’s park system becomes an issue in the upcoming election.

For now, though, it seems that the commissioners and staff of the Minot Park District are prepared to create opportunities for outdoor recreation far beyond what the existing system has to offer.