A bird’s eye view looking southwest on the future Switchyard Park shows trails, natural spaces and other features of the $34 million project on the city’s south side. Courtesy rendering
A 12,580-square-foot, $657,400 skate park in Switchyard Park will include 30 features replicating a city streetscape. Courtesy rendering
•
•
Four mayoral administrations and countless hours of planning have prepped the stage for what the city Parks and Recreation Department is calling “Bloomington’s Central Park.”
Residents can expect to see a flurry of activity as work begins Wednesday with a 38,400-cubic-yard coal ash and cinder soil remediation project on the 58-acre property. An official groundbreaking has been scheduled for 11:30 a.m. May 11 at the B-Line Trail trailhead at Grimes Lane.
Last month, the city gave Weddle Brothers Building Group the green light to start the Switchyard Park’s $34 million construction. The destination park on Bloomington’s south side will be built upon what Dave Williams, director of operations and development for the parks and rec department, calls the “high bar of remediation.”
“We knew this was a transformative project for this side of town,” Williams said. “This will be a regional attraction.”
To coax a shining emerald of a park from the coal-streaked remnants of a former railyard, the city has crafted master plans from community suggestions and come out the other side with a park that balances active and passive recreation.
© 2024 HeraldTimesOnline, Bloomington, IN