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Smyrna residents will vote next month on a $22 million bond issue for parks and recreation upgrades.

City Manager Wayne Wright said Smyrna needs to act quickly to expand its aging park system because market value for land is rising rapidly. The special election is March 15, and the parks referendum will be the only measure on the ballot.

"We've got to buy the property now because [land values] are going out of sight," Wright said. "We haven't developed a city park in decades."

If the referendum passes, the plans would touch on nearly all the city's parks and include sweeping upgrades.

The city of about 44,000 residents has 214 acres of city-owned parks, with 28 recreation sites. The county park system also includes parts of Smyrna.

Wright said city leaders developed the bond strategy at a City Council retreat a year ago. Many of the specific projects were identified from an early 2003 parks and recreation master plan that involved extensive community input, Wright said.

"We based our goal in the master plan based on a needs assessment. The community came forward and told us what they wanted," he said.

The seven-member council unanimously voted Dec. 6 to call for a special election for parks and recreation facilities improvements. The vote occurred after two public information sessions in November.

The $22 million bond would amortize over 20 years, with payments structured so that the city's current level of tax-funded debt would remain stable through the term of the loan, Wright said.

The centerpiece of the plan is the development of the former Brawner Hospital campus. The city purchased the former psychiatric hospital about four years ago and has been making incremental improvements.

The Brawner site also includes the Taylor House on Atlanta Road, a residence built in the 1890s whose last use was as administrative offices for the hospital.

Taylor House -- a one-story late Victorian-era Georgian cottage -- is one of the oldest properties in Smyrna, Wright said. Officials hope to add banquet space on the Brawner campus, suitable for receptions. But officials don't have detailed architectural plans yet, he said.

If the voters approve the referendum, "my hope is that we could get as many of the projects going simultaneously as possible," Wright said.