Walking loops, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, soccer fields, exercise rooms, new parks, an indoor pool — these are some of the immediate needs identified in the newly passed Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department’s master plan. Now, the department’s advisory board must begin prioritizing these needs, establishing a list of projects to take place in the next 10 years.

The master plan, recently approved by county commissioners, was developed after several public input meetings, planning sessions and department inventories headed by the Charlotte-based planning, landscape architecture and civil engineering firm Haden Stanziale.

“This is an extremely great document for us,” said parks and recreation director Jeff Carpenter. “It’s the first thing (agencies) ask for when we’re applying for grants.”

The plan divides the county into four regions — the Dillsboro/Qualla, Sylva/Webster, Cullowhee and Cashiers/Glenville park districts — and identified immediate (0-2 years), near-term (3-5 years) and long-term (6-10 years) needs for land acquisition or facility improvement and facility programming.

For example, in the Sylva/Webster district — the most densely populated district in the county — immediate needs include planning for an indoor facility at Mark Watson Park that would include multi-use rooms and offices. In the town of Sylva, the plan recommends continued work on the Jackson County Greenway and researching options for converting the Sylva pool to an indoor/outdoor facility.

However, the topic that drew the most comment from audience members at the commissioners’ meeting just prior to passing the plan was the the need for an indoor pool at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee. Ten speakers ranging in age from near pre-school to retirement implored commissioners to push the pool to the top of the priority list.

Without an indoor pool, area residents must rely on the generosity of Western Carolina University for winter swim team practices and swimming lessons, said Sue Heckert, co-president of the Jackson County swim team. Swim team members also are sent to Haywood County’s indoor pool at its recreation center in Waynesville.

“I don’t like sending them to Haywood County,” Heckert said. “Keep them here in Jackson County.”

One-time competitive swimmer and YMCA employee Jim Manning said that swimming had kept him out of trouble during his youth, providing a structured and healthy environment that he now wants to pass on to his own family. An indoor pool therefore should be in the works.

“There’s a real need not in 10 years, but right now for a 24-seven, year-round pool,” Manning said.

The Parks and Recreation Department’s Advisory Board Chairwoman Annie Ripley Gehring encouraged commissioners to “dive into this project,” as a pool would give residents of all ages a chance for low-impact exercise such as water aerobics, which keeps strain off of joints.

The advisory board, currently comprised of eight representatives, will be restructured as a result of the master plan to include 12 members from each district, the recreation department, the greenway commission, Western Carolina University, Southwestern Community College, Jackson County school district, public health and county commissioners. Carpenter said he expected those changes to be made within six months.

Once the board is revamped, members will begin studying the master plan and setting a project timeline. Two projects are underway. One is the development of a five-acre recreation park in the Little Canada area that will include a picnic shelter, walking trails, playground, restrooms and outdoor pavilion. The second is a similar park planned for the Savannah community, though property has not yet been found, Carpenter said.

However, Carpenter cautioned that the master plan is in no way a guarantee of things to come.

“It’s a road map,” he said.