The beachside McConnell Playground in Savin Hill will see $3 million in improvements in a city-funded project that could start early next year. On Tuesday evening, neighbors convened for the first in a series of meetings aimed at soliciting input on how the park should be re-designed.

“We have the money,” said project manager Michele Folts of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. “We’re here to talk to you about what to do with that money. Three million sounds like a lot, but it will go like that.”

About 40 people packed into the Cristo Rey High School library for a presentation on the park, which currently includes baseball diamonds, a multi-use field, playground, and passive use areas along the waterfront of Savin Hill Bay.

All elements of the park need an update of some kind, planners noted. The batting cages around the perimeter of the ball field feel cramped, the post and platform playground is aging, existing paved pathways do not align with the most commonly walked routes, and the pathway could use better signage.

Difficult parking, drainage issues, and updated amenities dominated the discussion, among neighbors, who say the park is well-situated but haphazardly maintained.

“To have a park, you need to have access,” said longtime resident Bill Hamilton. The parking is a mess, he said, with poorly marked lanes and spaces, and navigating the area becomes difficult the more people try to press into the space.

The McConnell serves park-goers from around Dorchester, Bill Richard said.

“While we all live in our neighborhoods, we collectively use all the parks,” he said. “Our kids use all the different parks.”

He wondered if there could be an updated assessment of the park usage.

“The bigger question is, do we need three diamonds? Do we want three diamonds? Do we want them built for the little league, the major league, ball play?”

Several coaches and managers for Savin Hill little league teams asked for updates to the dugouts, which they say have terrible sightlines and are generally unusable. Others floated the option of bathrooms, concessions, or a clubhouse of some sort.

Astro-turfing should also be on the table, said Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association president Eileen Boyle. The Challenger Sports program had several games cancelled because of rain last year, Boyle said, and astro-turf would mean that children in wheelchairs or with other mobility issues could use the field even in more drizzly conditions.

Some said there was an existing issue with park maintenance, including neighbor Robert O’Sullivan who spoke at length about the overgrown grass, ignored signage, drug use, and prostitution in the park. “You can’t take care of the park now,” he said, asking “You‘re going to be able to take care of this one?”

Park discussions will continue with listening sessions through the summer, pulling together design and construction documentation from this winter into spring 2018. Accounting for weather and regular park use seasons, Folts said the new park could open in 2019.