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Rusty Worley
Rusty Worley

Opinion: Greenways link downtown, draw investment projects

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Downtown Springfield’s Hammons Field, Jordan Valley Ice Park and the Creamery Arts Center are the first fruits of Vision 20/20. Looking to the not too distant future, one can imagine walking, biking and jogging trails radiating from this downtown core to National Avenue and Kansas Expressway and a northeastern spur that links Ozarks Technical Community College and Missouri State, Drury and Evangel universities.

This exciting long-term vision is steadily becoming a reality. Ozark Greenways, the Springfield/ Greene County Park Board and the city of Springfield recently completed the trail between National and Fremont avenues that connects Smith Park to Silver Springs Park.

In 2005, the state of Missouri provided a $3 million transportation development tax credit to ADM Alliance Nutrition for its donation of Tindle Mills to Drury, which will link Silver Springs to Chestnut Expressway and ultimately will provide the northern pedestrian entrance to Jordan Valley Park via the Chestnut Expressway viaduct. Drury will be able to serve as a trailhead for the Government Plaza area and still have enough room to explore expansions for its sustainability and architecture programs, an indoor baseball facility, parking and other needs of a growing urban campus.

The city is working with Commercial Metals on potential relocation sites that will open up large parcels of land during the next three to five years to expand Jordan Valley Park to the north for festivals and recreational greenspace. Recent projects on the perimeter of this area include Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ new home on East Trafficway, the projected site of the southwest Missouri crime lab on Tampa Street and a new OTC work force development center at the corner of Washington Avenue and Chestnut Expressway.

Construction of MSU’s JQH Arena is filling the quarry just east of Hammons Field much earlier than anticipated. This area will serve as an eastern gateway to the ballpark, Jordan Valley Park and downtown. Redevelopment projects in this area include the Holiday Inn Express in 2005, Doe’s Eat Place in 2006 and the Lofts at Jordan Creek, now under renovation.

As the Jordan Valley greenway trail heads west from the Ice Park to Founders Park and then to Boonville Avenue, several additional projects are sprouting up, such as the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center (bringing approximately $30 million in capital investment and new high-tech jobs in nanotechnology and national defense), Valley Center (a mixed-use project with residential and commercial uses conveniently located between JVIC and College Station) and Visioneering (the former Aesthetic Concerns building converted to condominiums – all of which are sold).

“Trails are more than catalysts for bricks and mortar,” said Terry Whaley, Ozark Greenways’ executive director. “They attract new fitness events to the area and bring additional revenues for small businesses such as bicycle shops, sporting goods and restaurants.”

Culminating in West Meadows, the city is working with area railroads, federal and state agencies, and private developers to transform brownfield sites to new urban uses. Architecture firm Butler, Rosenbury & Partners was a pioneer that recognized the economic value of locating adjacent to the future greenway. Craig Wagoner followed suit with his renovation of Olive Place’s first-floor retail and office space across the street from College Station and the second-floor loft apartments overlooking the trail.

West Meadows also is stimulating investment in the West Central neighborhood south of College Street and west of Grant Avenue. Tom Dornan and Jack Pugh have restored more than a dozen historic homes in the area, and the Matt Miller Co. is in the final stages of constructing Walnut Alley, an infill project with three-bedroom townhouses and two-car garages. These developers are working to meet the anticipated demand for homeowners and apartment residents who want to take advantage of a short walk to College Station, the Moxie or a First Friday Artwalk while still having amenities such as a backyard for the kids and quick access to the planned trail system.

“The greenway trails are uniting our center city neighborhoods and making them more attractive to families who want to spend less time in their cars and more time enjoying outdoor activities,” said Bob Horton, executive director of Urban Neighborhoods Alliance.

According to the 2002 Consumers’ Survey on Smart Choices for Home Buyers conducted by the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders, 36 percent of 2,000 home buyers designated trails as either an “important” or “very important” community amenity. NAHB estimates that residential properties will realize a 10 percent to 20 percent gain in value the closer they are located to greenways.

Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.[[In-content Ad]]

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