Land acquisition enables Doling Park expansion

If Doling Park could talk, it would tell many stories of the crowds that once gathered there. With an expanded conservation area and plans under way for an interactive museum, city officials are hoping to bring crowds back to the north Springfield park.
Springfield-Greene County Park Board Director Dan Kinney said the city will begin taking bids next month for demolition of the old skating rink at the park, which will make room for the planned museum.
“After construction begins, I expect we are about a year away from completion,” Kinney said.
The recent addition of 8.4 acres of land from the Merrell-Cooper family, which owns farmland in the area, increases Doling Park’s size to more than 50 acres. Kinney said the family donated two acres and sold the remaining 6.4 acres to the city for the appraised value of $45,000.
Funding for the project comes from the quarter-cent sales tax increase approved by voters for park improvements.
Plans for the additional acreage – called the Merrell-Cooper Park and Conservation area – include a nature trail and a bridge, which has not yet been completed. The trail, which is designed with lights for night walking, will lead walkers to Doling’s existing facilities. A dedication for the bridge and trail project is set for June, Kinney said.
“People will be able to leave the senior center, walk down through the park, get on the nature trail and then come on back around for about a mile and a half or so up to the family center,” Kinney said.
Additional foot traffic to this area will only benefit the existing facilities said Kevin Marquart, recreation director at Doling Park.
The Doling Family Center, which opened in December 2004, now has 700 members; approximately 5,000 people have used the facility since January. As the museum and new nature trail gain more attention, Marquart expects to see even more new faces.
“We are tucked back here in this beautiful park and people don’t always know what we have,” he said. “We hope to have more and more people to explore all the things we have here.”
In addition to the family and senior centers, Doling Park has a swimming pool, gymnasium, playground equipment, horseshoes, two lighted tennis courts, picnic and playing areas and a lake.

Museum plan
The planned museum at Doling Park, designed by Jana Funk and Jack Hood with Hood-Rich Architects and Engineers, will have both indoor and outdoor features. Funk said that the estimated cost of the project has not been determined, since bids for construction haven’t begun.
“We’re going to build two smaller buildings that will house kiosks that will tell about the history of Doling,” Funk said. “We will be tearing down the majority of the old skating rink but leaving the west wall.”
The west wall, she added, will be used as the backdrop for an outdoor amphitheater for receptions, weddings and outdoor concerts.
The actual building size for the museum will be smaller than the skating rink, but the entire museum area will be fenced and will have restrooms, office space, and storage in addition to the historical interactive kiosks.

A vivid history
Doling’s history dates back 159 years. According to historical reports found in Springfield-Greene County Library records, the first white settlers to own the park land were John Thomas Giboney and his brother, James Giboney. The Giboneys purchased the original 40-acre tract in 1846 for $60. The park was named for James Marshall Doling, a Springfield merchant and state representative who purchased the land in 1882 for $2,500. In 1907 an organization known as The Springfield Amusement Co. purchased the park from Doling for $50,000.
According to a postcard stamped on September 12, 1908, in files at The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County, the park featured a skating rink, merry-go-round, theater, swimming area, penny arcade and a ride known as Shoot-the-Chutes, which launched boats down into the lake. Many of these attractions remained at the park for years.
Patsy Corbett, a volunteer with the museum, said she remembers spending time at the penny arcade as a child in the 1930s. “We enjoyed our time at the park. The rides were fun; we had a lot of class picnics there,” said Corbett.
In 1929, the city of Springfield purchased Doling for $85,000, according library reports, and continued to offer the same attractions without an admission fee. The only ride that was shut down was Shoot-the-Chutes, because it was deemed unprofitable. Over time, many rides deteriorated, and in the 1970s, most of them were removed, Kinney said.
Also during the 1970s Kinney said he began talks with the Merrell-Cooper family about a land purchase, which took 30 plus years to come to fruition.
“They have owned that property for years. We regrouped with them about six years ago or so, and worked it out so we could acquire that land and develop the Merrell-Cooper Park and Conservation area,” he said.
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