A final site plan for Shelby’s downtown park, commonly known as Blackfork Commons, was approved by the Shelby Park Board at their Monday night meeting. The action brings the board one step closer to the creation of the park.
The project provides a $375,000 budget restriction from the park board. Tedd Hardesty, Principal of the EDGE Planning, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design group and Shelby High School graduate, created a layout of Blackfork Commons. It includes an event lawn, a stage area and a circular drive allowing space for a “town square” area in the future.
“The goal was with the budget that we had to really put in the basic infrastructure we need to have a good, functioning park,” said Hardesty. “We wanted to be really clear at this schematic level what the potential costs are.”
Hardesty’s estimated costs for the construction of the new schematic site plan totaled at $371,400, including a $10,000 grant from the Shelby Foundation for lighting. He noted the final budget did not include reimbursements, which are expected in the amounts of $54,000 for walkways and $27,000 for the stage area, and that money can be rolled back into extra details for the downtown park such as a storage area or overhead utility burials.
The Shelby Park Board’s unanimous approval of the schematic design allows Hardesty and the EDGE group to submit the design to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for approval. In the meantime, the park board has turned its attention to promoting their fundraising campaign to add to the board’s contribution of $375,000 and help construct personalized details for the downtown park.
“I look at (the $375,000) as seed money to get things started and galvanize the enthusiasm around having a Blackfork Commons, and then we’ll stand back,” said Dave Keinath, newly-elected President of the Shelby Park Board. “We felt we needed to generate enthusiasm about the park, the same kind of passion about the community that we have, and tying it together.”
To help kick off the campaign, the park board enlisted the help of historian and filmmaker Tim McKee to create a short film entitled “Shelby & the Black Fork Park.” The film takes viewers on a nostalgic tour of the city of Shelby and its history, as well as the history of the Black Fork River.
“Every once in a while the little quiet Black Fork has to rise up and assert its heritage as a significant body of water, to baptize the town again and again,” McKee’s script reads. “Dealing with flood damage again and again, it made sense to clear out buildings in the floodplain. And that new space opened up presents a rare opportunity in the middle of town to create a true center of town.”
Keinath also recognizes the potential Blackfork Commons park has to revitalize Shelby’s downtown, motivating him to continue with his position on the park board.
“I grew up in Shelby, I’ve spent my whole life there,” he said. “I’ve watched it change from lots of shops downtown and a place where you could buy just about anything you want to downtown, and it’s starting to come back. The opportunity to put a park downtown and make it a community really intrigued me to get back on the park board.”
Created in conjunction with McKee’s video was the Facebook page “Shelby & the Black Fork Park,” officially active in December 2013. The page, which currently has 59 “likes,” was created as an anchoring point for the park board’s campaign to raise funds toward elements of the park’s construction.
“We all recognized in the park board that we can’t afford to build this park alone,” said Keinath. “We need the whole community behind us.”
“We all recognized in the park board that we can’t afford to build this park alone,” said Dave Keinath. “We need the whole community behind us.”
