By Derrick Forsythe, Record Staff Writer
Sarah Janes braved the brisk winds on Monday to accompany her two daughters to the groundbreaking for a new city park that will be built west of Highway 47 near the Warrior Avenue intersection.Evelyn, 2, and Naomi, 1, are likely too young to appreciate the gem that awaits them, but their mother believes the park holds many future memories for her family, which recently moved back to the area from Michigan.“It shows that Warrenton is moving forward, and that excites me as someone who is returning to town,” said Janes, who graduated from Warrenton High School. “I think it’s a great location. It’s close to the schools and to my home, so it’s going to be walking distance for a lot of people.”Warrenton Mayor Eric Schlueter welcomed visits and stressed the importance of having a park on the south perimeter of the city limits. The city’s two other parks — Binkley and Dyer parks — both are near the downtown business area.“We’re excited to provide new facilities that we don’t have, such as the dog park, Frisbee golf or walking trail,” said Schlueter. “We looked at the demographics and we have a lot of retired people, so if they want to go work out in the winter they can go to the pool and exercise without it hurting their joints.”The Warrenton Board of Aldermen on Feb. 21 approved a $99,750 bid from KCI Construction to remove underbrush and clear parts of the 39-acre property as well as do rough grading for an interior roadway.Several curious residents walked the acreage to gain a perspective of what is to come in the following years for this plot of land. In addition to amenities mentioned by Schlueter, the park will include an outdoor amphitheater and fishing dock. The aquatic center will replace the current municipal pool, which was opened in 1989.“We frequent the parks in the area a lot with two young kids,” said Sara Winters, who also brought her family to witness the groundbreaking. “We’re just really excited about the new park coming into town, and I thought it would be nice for (my children) to see the beginning. The parks here are fine, but there’s always room of improvement.”Cheryl Dyer also lives nearby and believes her late husband, former mayor Jerry Dyer, would be proud of this advancement by the city.“Preserving green space was so important to Jerry,” said Dyer. “He was such a huge supporter of anything that happened in the community with the parks system.”Janes is eager to see what new opportunities the park can bring for outdoor learning and geocaching, among other activities.“My husband and I just talked about how cool it would be if there was an indoor pool for cold winter months,” said Janes. “The fact that they’re planning on having an indoor and outdoor aquatic center is exciting. There are lots of possibilities for this park.”Warrenton Mayor Eric Schlueter stands next to the diagram for a new city park during the groundbreaking at the location near the intersection of Highway 47 and Warrior Avenue on Monday. Derrick Forsythe photo.
City officials held a groundbreaking on Monday for the new park to be constructed west of Highway 47 near the Warrior Avenue intersection. Pictured are, from left, John Miller, Gary Auch, Bob Delaloye, Mike Shilharvey, Mayor Eric Schlueter and Scott Schulze. Derrick Forsythe photo.
