According to this article in the Star Tribune, Dakota County has begun to narrow the vision for its latest regional park located on 450+ acres in Empire Township. While the options have narrowed, there are still many choices to be made which brings rise the question: why are they still concerning themselves with this park?
From the article:
An off-leash dog park, a learning and research center and something called an “agboretum” are among the ideas being floated for the new regional park in Empire Township.
Of course, the concepts unveiled to Dakota County commissioners earlier this month also call for a healthy dose of hiking trails, campsites and picnic areas.
All wonderful ideas themselves, however much of those options already exist in the immediate area including the nearby Dakota Woods Dog Park and the Master Gardener run garden at the adjacent UMore Park which serves as a huge research center for the University of Minnesota and has a very large hiking area known as the Lone Rock Trail.
This is not to say that the County should not look to invest in outdoor activities to fill the land acquired. There are certainly not enough campsites available in the county’s system, especially those that are under heavy tree cover. There are not enough raw parks which are not developed in any way. We need more undiscovered wilderness areas like Miesville Ravine Park which allows for the county to spend less money but provide access to real wilderness situations for its citizens–something which has dwindled in the metro area in recent years with the proliferation of paved trails, interactive centers, and concentration on attraction for the wrong reasons.
Instead of spending so much time worrying about redeveloping preexisting park options which are in the immediately area and concentrating on coming up with the most perfect name even though many have been already provided, they should be better understanding what the public does not even yet know it wants and needs and providing that instead.
What do you think?
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March 23rd, 2011 at 9:30 am
I dunno, seems kind of stupid due to the whole U-More thing going on in the region. If they want to get started with something I’d start with something that is easy to change in the future. Make it an off leash dog area then a bunch of natural trails. Whatever they do, please do not build some building or other structure that 20 years from now my kids will be having charity drives to pay for the re-refurbishment of.
March 23rd, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Keep in mind that, in the future, the UMORE area will have significantly less open space than it does now. The existing UMORE Park property is being divided into roughly three parts. The western third is going to be mined for gravel, eliminating the Master Gardener area and much of the University’s research facilities. The southeastern third is being transferred to the Department of Natural Resources as the state’s “Vermillion Highlands” park (the deal for the new Gopher Stadium), although the University is going to move some of its research facilities onto the new property. The Vermillion Highlands park is going to have minimal public access or facilities, although the Lone Rock Trail will remain in some form. The remaining, northeastern portion will become the University’s new planned community. The County Park is intended to have more public access and facilities than the state park, and also to serve as something of a gateway to the state park.
January 21st, 2012 at 11:11 pm
The name will be “Whitetail Woods”: http://www.startribune.com/local/south/137617603.html
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:29 am
Huh. (yawn)
If they called it “Zzesst Meadows” I would be over there now camping out at the gate to secure myself a place in line as the first official user.
March 1st, 2012 at 7:02 am
[...] A recent Pioneer Press article provides a glimpse into Dakota County’s plan to transform what is an area full of natural beauty into a county park which will offer many amenities which some members of the public wanted. [...]
March 11th, 2012 at 8:07 am
Is there a link to where this park location has been drawn out on a map?
March 11th, 2012 at 8:22 am
In this post: http://www.lazylightning.org/dakota-county-to-spend-26m-on-new-park
There is a link to: http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00004fbe/bnehcvdsvrfsxjpmwcwhxzyqbqlrjxog/WhitetailWoodsRPMasterPlanweb.pdf
They show one there.