Next open houses on city facilities and parks/recreation next week; how many new buildings do you want built?

City Hall will hold two similar open houses next week to gather resident input on options for the city's parks and recreation system and for rebuilding the city's key flood-damaged buildings.

The events will be held in the Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

A first open house on rebuilding and the parks system was held on June 23.

Prior to the June open house, the city's consultants suggested that the city consider three employment sites, a community services center, which would function like a City Hall; a community operations center, which would be a public works operation that would house departments like streets, solid waste and fleet management; and a public safety training center.

The key questions, though, are whether or not city government will return to City Hall in the flood-damaged Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island; if some of city government may occupy the former federal courthouse, which the city will take ownership of; or if the city will build one or more new buildings. Also to be determined is where the city's new library will be built.

On the parks and recreation front, the city will ask residents to consider a decentralized system similar to the existing system, a more centralized system that creates a riverfront recreation destination or a hybrid system.

Another open house will follow in October, less than a month before city elections. Six of nine City Council seats will be on the ballot.