ESCONDIDO -- Aiming to make Grape Day Park a "must-see" attraction, city officials will survey residents and hold public forums this fall seeking suggestions about what new activities would make the 10-acre downtown park more appealing.

"It's a beautiful park, but too often it's underused," said Wendy Barker, director of the park's Escondido History Center. "We want to transform it into a fun and creative place to go. When someone comes from out of town, we want Grape Day Park to be the place you simply have to take them."

Barker said the new attractions also could help improve the image of the park, which has become closely identified with the homeless people who occupy its east side all day.

"Too often, the perception is that it's an unsafe place," Barker said last week. "New activities could change that."

Lunchtime concerts, chess tables, shaded areas, fitness equipment and more public art are among some suggestions to attract more people to the park.

But Barker said public input will play a crucial role in determining what actually happens.

"We want to find out what would bring people here," said Barker, who is partnering on the project with Katie Ragazzi, director of the park's Children's Museum. "We want to know whether downtown employees would attend lunchtime concerts. Would Tae Kwon Do or other exercise classes be popular? Would people use water misters on hot days?"

Barker and Ragazzi were awarded a $25,000 grant this summer from the San Diego Foundation to cover a part-time employee to manage the forums and coordinate the public surveys.

Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler praised the new campaign, explaining that it could be a precursor for City Council plans to extend the park farther north across Washington Avenue.

"If we don't have a vision, the expansion may never happen," said Pfeiler. "I think this will help us understand what the purpose of the park is."

The campaign will also occur at the same time a consultant is studying a new north-south downtown pedestrian corridor, which would run along Maple Street and continue through the park to Woodward Avenue.

Created in the early 1930s, the park includes City Hall, the performing arts center, multiple museums, a swimming pool, the history center, a military monument, the Vinehenge playground structure, horseshoe pits and several pieces of public art.

But even with those attractions, many residents and downtown workers do not visit the park very often, said Mike Peters, president of the Downtown Business Association's executive board.

"I almost forget it's there sometimes," said Peters, who works less than two blocks away from the park on Grand Avenue. "I think it's a fabulous place, and it'd be great if it became more of a destination."

Enhancing the park would make it an even more treasured amenity for residents living nearby, said Carol Rea, president of the 800-member Old Escondido neighborhood association.

Rea said nearby residents would like to see an amphitheater for concerts, better playgrounds and more meeting rooms.

As more condominiums are built downtown, an urban park in the city's core becomes a greater necessity, Rea said.

Barker said the idea of improving the park is not something new, explaining that grant proposals for similar campaigns had been rejected in the past.

But she said the community involvement might yield ideas that no one has ever considered.

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.