Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero today announced the beginning of a public process called Lakeshore Park: Next Steps.

The City of Knoxville, along with the board of Lakeshore Park Inc., will kick off the process with a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, June 10th, in the gymnasium of Sacred Heart Cathedral, 711 Northshore Drive. The meeting will begin an update to the master plan for the popular park.

Lakeshore Park Inc., a nonprofit with the mission of developing and managing the park on behalf of the City and providing recreational opportunities, will make a presentation after which Bill Lyons, Deputy to the Mayor and Chief Policy Officer, will lead a public discussion.

"Lakeshore Park is a valuable asset for Knoxville," said Mayor Rogero. "I encourage everyone to come and participate as we begin to determine the park's development. We are at a critical point in assessing the park's future and want to ensure a solid plan going forward."

"We want Lakeshore Park to be the place where Knoxville goes to play," said Lakeshore Park Board Chair Dee Haslam. "As we move through this process, we hope to hear from people all across the City about what additional uses and improvements they would like to see at the park."

Lakeshore is currently a 110-acre park with a playground, open space, paved greenway trails, six baseball/softball fields and two soccer fields. After the closing of Lakeshore Mental Health Institute, the State of Tennessee announced that an additional 61 acres and buildings would be transferred to the City of Knoxville.

Mayor Rogero's proposed capital projects budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year includes $5.2 million for demolition and improvements on property at Lakeshore. The budget is up for final approval at tonight's City Council meeting.