Council discusses $1.2M in proposed riverfront projects

By Cameron Montemayor

New mountain biking tracks and improvements to a popular local softball complex could be on the horizon as part of $1.2 million worth of proposed projects discussed at City Hall on Monday.

St. Joseph Assistant Parks Director Jeff Atkins led a presentation with council members and city leaders during a work session to discuss a variety of proposed riverfront projects, including nearly $400,000 for three new mountain biking tracks at Huston-Wyeth Park and $700,000 worth of improvements to Heritage Park.

Just over $575,000 of the $700,000 for Heritage Park would be used to install a large new concrete spillway, one that would significantly improve floodwater removal capabilities in and around the facility.

“It’s a big project, not only just for ourselves to get that water off of our facility quicker, but it serves that entire neighborhood out there. … There’s businesses out there,” Atkins said. “Once flooding happens, it will allow us to get the water out of the area a lot sooner than we have been able to in the past.”

The softball complex could also see the addition of brand new scoreboards and a public addressing system, two features that will enhance the experience for the many sporting events hosted at the facility.

Beyond Heritage Park, Atkins is excited to potentially add a new wrinkle to the city’s rapidly-growing network of biking trails up north.

“We’re getting people from each coast coming here,” Atkins said. “We’re in a really good spot.”

The burgeoning River Bluff Trails system would see the addition of a new flow track, pump track and skills track. Each track offers bikers varying levels of difficulty to accommodate almost any age group.

“The flow track … it’s more like a playground than the downhill trails are and the cross country trails,” Atkins said. “The skills track is designed for people like myself that aren’t skilled on bikes, they can go use the skills track to build up their skills, to build up their confidence before they find themselves out on a cross-country or a downhill trail that they can’t handle because they’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Funding for the projects would come from the hotel-motel tax re-approved by voters in 2011. The tax promotes riverfront and Downtown development by charging hotel guests 6% of their accommodations. Roughly $2.5 million is currently in the hotel-motel tax fund.

Other notable proposed projects include:

$42,000 to replace the playground canopy at the Bill McKinney Softball Complex.

$35,000 to replace the unusable large shade umbrella located at the Bill McKinney Softball Complex.

$60,000 to fix erosion issues at the Bob Simpson Pedestrian Bridge located near McArthur Drive and West Highland Avenue.

$347,200 for a pump biking track at Huston-Wyeth Park. The track will be located in the open area north of the overlook and picnic shelter. It will be a 4,400-square-foot asphalt surface.

$8,190 for a new skills biking track at Huston-Wyeth Park. It will be built from crushed rock and will provide an opportunity for riders to develop their biking skills in a more controlled environment before tackling more challenging trails.

$44,415 for flow biking track at Huston Wyeth Park to create a challenging terrain-induced rollercoaster experience.