By Mark Ambrogi
Zionsville Parks Dept. director Matt Dickey was a bit surprised how quiet the audience was during a presentation of three plans for a new park.
The public got a look at three possible schemes March 9 for Overley-Worman Park, which is planned adjacent to the Vonterra subdivision on the west side of Zionsville Road. The schemes were designed by Indianapolis-based Rundell Ernstberger Associates.
“I thought we’d hear positive and negative both a little more,” Dickey said. “Or pieces and parts they didn’t like.”
From his vast experience attending public meetings, Dickey said he never expects one plan to win the day.
“I think the challenge for the consulting firm is to say we heard this pretty clear, we heard that,” Dickey said. “There were some common themes. No one seemed to dislike the mountain bike concept. I thought we heard the commonality that we had some differing types of trails to target. Trail runners and mountain bikers are going to be more on the same speed than a casual walker.”
The goal is to have a plan to take to the parks board meeting May 10.
Dickey said the land for the park is being donated in phases based on the development of the subdivision. He doesn’t expect the town to own most of the land for three to five years.
“Since there is going to be phasing, if something is less expensive you might move into that earlier,” Dickey said.
Kevin Osburn, a principal for Rundell Ernstberger, said there is a consensus around the types of activities and uses the community wants to see.
“They want many different types of trails, not just mountain bike,” Osburn said. “They want a traditional park playground component. We heard extension of the Rail Trail over again. I think we got a consensus of what the purpose of the park should be. The details of how the park should be laid out, we got some comments, but I’m not sure we got a consensus of whether we should go with this scheme or that scheme. That will be our challenge. We’ll come back and recommend a scheme, and it might look different than these schemes.”
Disc golf and a canoe/kayak course were two possible activities mentioned for the park. Visit the project website at https://www.reacollaborative.com/overley-wormanplan.
