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Keeping an old promise
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| By: DAVID HENKE, Staff Writer
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Snow blankets a set of playground equipment in Way Park.
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View a two-part map of the park plans by clicking below:
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Restoring Way Park, Northfield resident David Sudermann says, is all about keeping an old promise.
Sold to the city by sisters Lucile Way and Laura Way in 1933, the 4.6-acre parcel of land was slated to become an elegant garden park — the centerpiece of Northfield’s west side. But the city needed a new hospital, and in 1939 the plans for the park were curtailed and adjusted to make room for the Northfield Hospital and adjoining parking lots, built on the south side of the park.
After more than six decades of operation, the aging hospital was torn down and the space it occupied converted back to park land. Last year, the closure of First Street united the two halves of the park.
Now, the Friends of Way Park wants to redevelop Way Park into what it was always meant to be: the graceful counterpart to Central Park on the city’s east side.
Historic preservation
To get there, Sudermann, a member of the Friends of Way Park, has filed a formal request asking the city to designate the park as a historic preservation site — a decision that Northfield’s Historic Preservation Commission and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board are currently mulling.
Sudermann and Friends of Way Park President Judy Swanson believe the park’s role as a community gathering place, its connection to the historically significant Way family and remnants of previous landscaping done in the park, including a stone wall built under the Works Progress Administration in the 30s, all qualify it to be a historic preservation site.
If Way Park receives the designation, it would give the site another layer of protection and could help Sudermann and the Friends group raise grant money for the eventual redevelopment of the park — which could begin as early as this summer.
Redevelopment
In 2007, the parks board approved a redevelopment plan conceived by local landscape architect Spencer Jones for Way Park.
The plan, Sudermann says, is grounded in another landscaping plan produced in 1934 by landscape architects Morell & Nichols. Jones’ plan includes a natural amphitheater, an expanded playground with handicapped-accessible equipment, a rain garden, additional sidewalk pathways and a larger pavilion with an attached warming house.
Swanson estimates the finished redevelopment would cost $700,000 to $900,000, and could be funded by local grants, benefit events and donations. Designating the park as a historic site could also help the group draw in outside grant funding, City Planner Dan Olson believes.
The development, Swanson said, would take place incrementally, with the first phase — the grading of a hill on the south side of the park to create an amphitheater — planned for this summer.
That grading project, Parks Board Chair Rick Vanasek said, would also take care of lingering problems in the south side of the park, like rough terrain and poor turf, leftover from the demolition of the old hospital.
Vanasek called the redevelopment of the park a “high priority” for the Parks Board, which has already committed $25,000 this year to construct sidewalks in the park, he said. Though Vanacek is concerned that designating Way Park as a historic preservation site may make future development in the park more difficult, those problems, he said, would likely be “minimal.”
“I think the plan for the park is very good and once it’s done, it’s going to make a very excellent park,” Vanacek said.
Sudermann says the redevelopment plan would revitalize the park, raise its profile in the community, make it a more accessible and friendly community gathering point and possibly improve property values in the neighborhood.
“It’s a matter of keeping faith with our past,” said Sudermann. “This could really help the west side blossom.”
“The goal is to just make it as beautiful and welcoming and inviting as possible,” Swanson said.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
On Feb. 8 the Northfield Heritage Preservation Commission and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will meet to discuss sending a joint recommendation to the Northfield City Council for approval of the historic preservation designation for Way Park. If the council grants preliminary approval to the designation, the two boards will have to agree on a final concept plan for the park and decide who will oversee and review the redevelopment of the park, City Planner Dan Olson said. Redevelopment of the park is expected to begin as early as this summer.
— David Henke covers city. He can be reached at dhenke@northfieldnews.com or 645-1100.
Copyright © 2009 Northfield News |
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