George Shillco*ck|Iowa City Press-Citizen
Outdoor recreation in Coralville and North Liberty isin for a major upgradeunder two ambitiousproposals from the two cities'governments.
Coralville is planning the new Clear Creek Point Park at the confluence of Clear Creek and the Iowa River complete with pickleball courts, a skate park, ice rink and kayak launches.Coralville Parks and Recreation Director Sherri Proud told the City Council last week that the concept for the park is to connect to the Iowa River's history with the ice and mill industries that used to operate there.
"Just tying that in with the Iowa River Landing and making a cohesive river front with all those ideas," Proud said.
In North Liberty, city officials are proposing upgrades to Centennial Park, aiming to make the park a regional attraction. This includes a large event center building with an outdoor stage, an open air pavilion, a splash pad and an honor garden to recognize veterans.
North Liberty City Administrator Ryan Heiar said last week thathe thinks this project will be a "great draw to our community" and drive quality of life and attract new employers and employees to the city.
"This plan, this potential project,is unique not only to the corridor but to the region," Heiar said.
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Both park projects are likely expensive and are in early stages. Coralville and North Liberty are both competing for the same grant to help fund the projects.
Here's a closer look at both projects and what could be included in each.
Coralville park could include Pickleball courts, kayak launches, skate park and ice skating rink
The proposed Clear Creek Point Park sits both at the Confluence of the Iowa River and Clear Creek, like its name implies. The land sits just to the east of 1st Avenue and south of the Iowa River Power Restaurant at the conjunction of the Iowa River Trail and Clear Creek Trail.
Proud said the goal of getting this funding for all the entities is to develop "peddle and paddle" facilities along the Iowa River.
"We're trying to develop bicycle and small water amenities at the mouth of Clear Creek and the Iowa River," she said.
The park's draft master plan shows:
- A shelter with a walking loop that turns into an "ice ribbon" for ice skating in the winter right at the confluence of both rivers with a plaza in the center
- Twokayak launch points on both rivers.
- A "pump track" with curving and graded concretefor skating and skateboards to the west of 1st Avenue alongside Clear Creek Trail.
- Four pickleball courts on the northern edge of the park.
- Two different parking lots and several open lawns and buildings for park staff.
"We would have fix-it stations, restrooms, bike parking and just everything you need to make it a trailhead. And from thepaddle portion, places to park your vehicle, use your own kayaks or use a check-out station," Proud said.
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Proud presented several other concepts and ideas for the park including a bicycle ride share-style kayak "vending machine," decorative fencing, room for yoga and more.
Proud made clear that the concepts for this park, including its name, are all in its draft form and the city would be able to dive deeper and design it more clearly if it is able to get funding.
"These are all ideas and would be draft form to get us to the point we can apply for the grant," Proud said.
While the view is a bit complicated by the MidAmerican Energy substation to the north, the park would provide an expansive view of the Iowa River as it curves around Iowa City's peninsula; of the dam and walking bridge to the north near the restaurant; and the Iowa River Landing further north.
The site just to the south of a MidAmerican Energy substationwas formerly aHawkeye Ready-Mix and has the CRANDIC rail line running through it. The rest of the land proposed for the park is largely open grassland surrounding the substation and to the west under 1st Avenue where the Clear Creek Trail continues toward Tiffin.
Coralville recently finished building a new trailbridge over Clear Creek and named it after former city engineer Dan Holderness last year and is working on a trail connection project along Camp Cardinal Boulevard. Coralville is also working on several projects along Clear Creek to improve the stream's flood resiliency.
Coralville City Council approved sending an application in partnership with Iowa City, the University of Iowa, Think Iowa City, and Johnson Countyfora $6,263,113 grant fromDestination Iowa to help fund the project. Under this partnership Coralville could get $2.4 millionto create this park.
Coralville would provide a local match of 40% in the form of the $3.9 million from the Clear Creek Stream Mitigation Project and over $2 millionfor the trail, tunnels and bridges at the I-80/1st Avenue Interchange. The city is working with contractor Bolton & Menk to design the project.
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North Liberty hopes to add stage andsplash pad toCentennial Park
The centerpiece of the Centennial Park upgrades is a 13,000-square-footevent center, dubbed Centennial Center, which the project's master plan refers to as the "heart of the park." The center would have an indoor area with a 300-person event hall and anoutdoor 2,700-square-foot stage that can cater to much larger crowds at city events.
Theestimated project cost is $17,700,000. Like Coralville,North Liberty isseeking other funding sources, includinggrant funds from Destination Iowa, for this project. The city is workingwith contractor Shive-Hattery to develop the plans for it.
The park upgrades also include:
- An open-air pavilion.
- A 5,000-square-foot splash pad for kids of all ages.
- Restrooms and shelter.
- Plaza spaces and pathways to accommodate expanded programming and connection of amenities.
- An "Honor garden" overlooking the existingpond in the park with open-air shelter.
- And expanded permeable paver parking areas to accommodate expanded programming.
"We think it will be a draw to our community in terms of tourism, but not just for tourism, for future growth," Heiar said.
Centennial Park is the city's largest park, located on the west side of the city on St. Andrews Drive just to the east of North Bend Elementary School. The park already includes multi-purpose trails and playground equipment and is the site of the city's Blues &BBQ festival.
Heiar said North Libertypurchased this land in 2010 for just under $20,000 an acre and has been planning upgrades to it since a master plan was created in 2012. The revised plan is consistent with what the city wanted with the addition of theopen-air pavilion and additional parking.
Mayor Chris Hoffman said the plan was terrific and the city couldn't have envisioned the amount of planning it had to do for Centennial back when it was first purchased.
"I think the 100-pound gorilla is how we get there," Hoffman said.
Heiar said it is obvious that the city needs outside funding sources like grants and private fundraising to make this a reality. He said the city will be putting together a finance plan in addition to the Destination Iowa Grant application.
"The price tag is a little scary but I think it's something that you all have thought about as well," City Councilmember RaQuishia Harrington said.
George Shillco*ck is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reportercovering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307,GShillco*ck@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @Shillco*ckGeorge
