City acquires new park land in south Blue Springs
The City of Blue Springs is pleased to announce that it has acquired two park land sites in South Blue Springs totaling approximately 101 acres. The two sites were purchased from local owner/developer, Green Fields Development. The first site consists of 75.24 acres just north of Colbern Road, south of Mason School Road, and west of Shrout Road. The large tract of open land is currently being farmed and was targeted by the City for purchase as it lends itself to reduced future site development costs, and is adjacent to the existing Mason Elementary School. The smaller site is a 25.81 acre site north of Wyatt Road and west of Missouri 7 Highway next to the Missouri Department of Conservation property. The planned future extension of 12th Street to the south will abut the east side of the future park.
These two locations will provide much needed land for neighborhood and community-wide facilities in the future. Mayor Carson Ross stated "This acquisition helps to balance the amount of park land in each of the three Council Districts, and allows us to preserve green space for the Third District before development limits our ability to purchase park ground." Mayor Ross went on to say that, "the timing of this purchase was advantageous to both the City and the owner of the property, and will be a tremendous community asset for many generations to come."
Acquisition of park land in south Blue Springs has long been a strategic priority for the City Council and several community visioning and planning groups. Acquiring land in the south before it is consumed for residential, commercial, or other uses has also been a policy goal of the Parks and Recreation Department for several years.
The City has gone for more than 29 years without purchasing any park land in the southern area of Blue Springs. For perspective, the population of Blue Springs in 1980 was around 20,000 residents, and is now 55,301, which has created the need for additional park land.
Future development in southern Blue Springs alone is projected to include 7,000 to 10,000 new residents, requiring new park acreage to be added in order to serve this segment of the community.
"Blue Springs has long been known for its quality parks and recreation programs, with local park amenities and facilities conducive to vibrant recreational programs and services. Acquisition of these two properties positions the City for continued recreational success," stated Mayor Carson Ross.
Funding for the $2.6 million dollar acquisition of parkland came from a recently settled lawsuit involving multiple cell phone service providers in Blue Springs and the State of Missouri. This timely, one-time revenue source allowed the Parks and Recreation Department to begin strategically looking for parcels of land that would align with the Mayor and Council's goals.
Third District Council members Sheila Solon and Ron Fowler, who represent the southern part of Blue Springs, added the following statement, "We are both extremely pleased that the City is able to proactively plan for future growth and provide future open space to not only the residents of the Third District, but also the entire City of Blue Springs. This is a dream that we hoped would happen for many years; we now will have park land to develop for the south end of town for everyone to enjoy."
Currently there are no funds allocated to provide for design or construction of the newly purchased land, however, some of the projected uses will include youth & adult football fields, practice sports fields, a skateboard park, playgrounds, a second dog park, shelters, trails, sport courts and other features that will be determined during future master planning processes.
For additional information regarding the park land acquisition, please contact Roscoe Righter, Director of Parks and Recreation at 816-228-0187.
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