New city park taking root in Palomino Ridge
By Bruce Wallace
A new city park is growing in the Palomino Ridge subdivision thanks to grants from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The $8,150 project, with only $3,261 cost share expense to the City of Ashland, includes a number of swamp oaks, Norway spruce, red maples and river birch trees - a total of 36 trees in all. The trees were purchased through and planted by Ashland's Richard Jones at Crazy Dick's.
"These trees will grow pretty quickly and last a long time," Jones said. "It is a good plan for this kind of space."
Long term, the two-acre low-impact park on Mustang Drive will include more than just trees. A picnic shelter and possible playground equipment for younger or toddler-aged children are a part of the plan.
"We are pleased to turn this property into public park land," said Ashland Mayor Mike Asmus. "I guess I would prefer to call in a 'pocket park' (instead of a neighborhood park) in that we want it to be available to everyone in the city, not just that neighborhood."
The gazebo with picnic benches will be available for reservation for residents, similar to the city park gazebos and a sidewalk will wind through the park, possibly with some exercise stations along the way.
"We might put some exercise stations every hundred yards or so," Asmus said. "I think a park such as this is an attractive perk for the city by virtue of this subdivision's developer (Bill Martin) willingness to deed it to the city."
The development of the park began in January 2007 when the Ashland Park Board held community meetings to decide how the park land should be utilized. Various possibilities were explored, including a basketball court, and the low-impact area, with the Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) grant providing the bulk of the funding, was selected. The findings of the community group were that "green space ranked very high among the participants," according to the TRIM grant.
The Missouri Department of Conservation's TRIM program is a cost-share tree program in cooperation with the Missouri Community Forest Council. Through this program, according to the MDC website, funds are available for communities to inventory, remove high-risk trees, train workers, prune and plant trees.
Asmus said the neighbors in the area will likely benefit in a social way they might not expect.
"Since I live adjacent to City Park, I can attest to the fact that a park such as this will promote plenty of social interaction by families who have their children playing there, people who walk in the park and son on," Asmus said, "our parks are well-used."