Fayetteville officials are skinning the Owl Creek neighborhood park project down to the wire and are calling for public input this month. City representatives are hosting a drop-in style workshop on Oct. 29 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. to discuss the final design concepts for a projected 1.5 to 2-acre park near Owl Creek. The site sits right at the stub-out adjacent to the intersection of North Magellan Lane and West Oldham Drive. If you’ve been driving around that stretch of Rogers Ave, you’ve probably seen the markers for this. Honestly, it’s incredible to see a plan like this moving forward in residential corridors that feel like they are always in flux. You go to a major city like Chicago or Dallas, and getting a designated spot with walkable green space that connects the neighborhood to nature? That usually takes years of petitions or massive tax hikes. Fayetteville residents are getting a chance to overhaul a lot that was likely sitting fallow into something functional without waiting for a developer to swoop in and build condos. Zach Foster, the city’s park planner, has been leading the charge on this. Last time he took the stage in May to show off the initial designs, he saw mostly nods of approval but heard some very specific concerns—mostly regarding parking, security, and lighting. That’s the stuff that makes a park good for a dog walker at 8 a.m. versus the guy coming home from a late shift at a factory in Springdale. The city has promised that the final design will keep the creek and floodplain areas intact. That means what would have been unusable wetlands will likely become part of the park’s aesthetic and value. Keep in mind the October weather in Northwest Arkansas can be a gamble. If the forecast looks overly wet or nasty, the event moves indoors to the Boys & Girls Club at 560 N. Rupple Road. Same deal—drop in, give your thoughts
Source: NWA Democrat Gazette
