From Rails to Trails: BNSF to donate land for Jordan Valley Park West Meadows

But changes are afoot in the park’s West Meadows.

Later this year, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad will donate some 20 acres along Jordan Creek to the city as part of an ambitious brownfield-to-green-space transformation spelled out in the city’s Vision 20/20 plan.

The land grant is a pivotal step toward the city’s long-term goal of establishing a center city park with various recreational features and amenities. To achieve that, officials hope to convert a significant portion of the rail yard – bordered by Main and Phelps streets and Fort and Main avenues – into public green space with walking trails and perhaps a water feature.

City planner Mike MacPherson, who’s overseeing the West Meadows project, said the park will act as a catalyst for private redevelopment in the surrounding neighborhoods.

“On College Street, we feel like there will be significant mixed-use development when the park is developed,” he said. “That could be retail, condos, housing, a variety of things. We think development activity will also occur back on Main Street.”

Rail yard reversal

A railroad reconfiguration study completed last year outlines a plan for phasing out specific tracks, consolidating operations in the northeast corner of the site near Phelps and Grant, and replacing lost rail capacity and storage elsewhere in town.

BNSF wants to ensure that site changes don’t diminish its capacity for growth or adversely affect customer service, said Roger Howard, director of government affairs for the railroad. Howard said BNSF also must retain the abilities to exchange rail cars with the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad and unload freight onto trucks.

Identifying funding sources for the $40 million rail reconfiguration project is also an obstacle, but not an insurmountable one for the city, he added. MacPherson said the city hopes to piece together funding from capital improvement sales tax revenue, federal grants, earmark appropriations and other sources.

“I don’t think there’s any reason it can’t happen or it won’t happen,” Howard said of the West Meadows. “I think the majority of that property could become public space.”

To that end, the city has drafted a memorandum of understanding with BNSF, Union Pacific and Missouri & Northern Arkansas – the three railroad companies that use the rail yard – regarding the mutual benefits of the project, and MacPherson said a three-year rollover action plan is in the works.

Another piece of the puzzle that will likely fall into place this year is an environmental assessment that’s necessary to determine if the rail yard could be safely converted for public use, MacPherson said.

“We have to find out what’s there first,” he said. “You don’t buy a house if you don’t know all the details.”

Public favors natural features

At an open house last month at the Discovery Center, the city showcased the progress of Jordan Valley Park and asked citizens what features they’d like to see incorporated into West Meadows.

Open space, a pond, a farmer’s market and greenway trails all received high marks from those who attended.

Ozark Greenways Executive Director Terry Whaley was pleased to hear that the railroad has plans later this year to donate the acreage along Jordan Creek. He said the nonprofit group has been eyeing a trail connection in that area for some time.

“We’ve always thought if we could kind of find a way to thread through the West Meadows there that the greenway trail would be the first element to define and identify the West Meadows as public space,” Whaley said.

There are, however, flooding issues associated with Jordan Creek, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying whether the channel should be altered.

Corps officials, who favor the greenspace proposal, also are assessing the site to determine if any environmental cleanup is needed.

“Greenspace along the floodplain of an urban stream is compatible with a flood-reduction project, and in fact, may even be a good idea,” said Corps Public Affairs Officer P.J. Spaul, who noted that no permanent structures would be at risk.

Visualizing the West Meadows

Some businesspeople already have taken notice of center city Springfield’s western expansion.

In 2005, architecture firm Butler, Rosenbury & Partners moved into the newly renovated Universal Paint building, 319 N. Main St., from Missouri State University’s Kenneth E. Meyer Alumni Center on Jefferson Avenue.

Partner Tim Rosenbury said the building’s historic nature and the West Meadows plan were motivating factors in the firm’s decision to move to what he described as a “relatively shabby part of town.”

Still, Rosenbury is able to visualize the West Meadows, and he points skeptics to Jordan Valley Park’s east side, where an exposition center, car park and baseball stadium now stand. A defunct quarry on the park’s extreme east end is also slated for redevelopment.

“It’s hard to catch the vision when you look at the reality that’s there today,” he said.

Rosenbury said many of his firm’s clients have expressed interest in rehabilitating existing buildings and even building new ones near the West Meadows. He cited photographer Randy Bacon’s recent renovation with partners Matt Miller, Jeff Schrag and Dan Johnson of a building at College Street and Main Avenue now called Monarch Art Gallery.

So how long before Rosenbury and his co-workers can gaze out their windows onto the lush greenness of the West Meadows?

“I would hope it’s sooner than later,” he said. “But we have a 10-year lease on our building, so we’re willing to wait.”[[In-content Ad]]