Coralville looks to build 110-acre park for community use

CORALVILLE — The Coralville City Council has adopted a master plan that would transform nearly 110 acres of land into a park for community use.

The West Land Use Park Master Plan, which was approved by the council last week, includes hiking trails, mountain bike trails, a nature education center and a goat barn on undeveloped land west of the Oakdale Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.

In addition to recreation opportunities, the plan seeks to preserve the natural landscape and improve the ecological health of the area.

Preliminary construction costs estimate the price of the project at around $9.4 million. That includes around $1.4 million in contingency funds.

The master plan recommends completing the project in phases to allow for development as different forms of funding, such as grants, become available.

There also would need to be traffic improvements on Jones Boulevard and University Parkway — including extensions and roundabouts — that are not included in the construction cost estimates.

Since the park development still is in the early stages, there’s no firm timeline on when construction could begin.

A steering committee made up of community members and city staff began the master plan development process last fall. Since then, outside firms and public hearings also have provided input on the master plan.

Fifty of the 110 acres are owned by the Iowa Board of Regents. The city is in the process of drafting a conservation easement that would allow the city to maintain the land as its own throughout park development.

Trails and recreation opportunities

The master plan calls for three different types of trails. The park would have paved trails that are ADA accessible that provide access to all areas of the park.

Some of the topography of the land makes it difficult to provide accessible access throughout the whole park. However, there are plans for “explorer trails” which would be mowed trails or other surfacing that would provide access to different areas of the park.

In addition to paved and mowed trails, the proposal also calls for single track and two-way bike trails.

In the master plan, pedestrian hiking and mountain biking are separated.

In the upper area of the park there are plans for a boardwalk and bridges near marsh areas.

Nature center and goat barn

A nature education center would be built on part of the park that was previously a conventional row plot.

“We can bring buses of school children to this place and have the Nature Center, a nice deck overlooking the park space, grassy areas to be able to lead programming, but also that goat barn and plenty of parking for that kind of programming around the outside to access the park,” said Sherri Proud, Coralville’s director of Parks and Recreation.

There would also be an outdoor classroom for additional learning experiences as well as an outdoor play area.

As part of the invasive species removal strategy, a goat barn would be located near the nature center.

Currently, there is no set plan on how the nature center would be staffed or who would be taking care of the goats.

Educational signs would be spaced throughout the park. The park also would provide space for city staff to store park maintenance equipment.

“Right now, we spend a lot of gas going back and forth between Operation Center, which is essentially near City Hall and out to west side. So this would give us that place not only just to serve this park, but a place where we could jump off some people for west side maintenance,” Proud said.

Ecological restoration

The city adopted a fen management plan in 2021 that focuses on protecting fen communities, restoring degraded land and removing invasive species.

These efforts have taken place on the western half of the park property and are likely to continue on the eastern half.

Areas where there aren’t many trees would be restored with prairies and wildflowers.

The plan also calls for stormwater management features that would lessen the impact of the nature center construction and other development in the park.

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