Maple Ridge Has Plans For A New Park

What do you do with a corner lot at a busy intersection that's no longer the ideal site for a home?  Some residents of the Maple Ridge Neighborhood believe they have the perfect solution for a corner at 31st and Peoria.  The News On 6's Rick Wells reports there is an opportunity for everyone to get a piece of the project.

Until a year ago, there was a house on the location, but the neighborhood association bought the lot moved the house and have a plan for a park.

"My vision for it was to just be a place of beauty that people could come in and reflect and enjoy or just enjoy as they drive by," said Neal Sperry.

Neal Sperry is sort of ramrodding the project for the neighborhood association.  There will be a gazebo which is almost furnished.  The rest of the plan requires some imagination.

"Down in this corner is where the sign will be announcing the name for the park.  There will be a sidewalk running from the adjacent property down into the park to the corner," said Neal Sperry.

The inspiration perhaps is some green space at the corner of 41st and Harvard. A real estate company has a sign and nicely landscaped a piece of property too small for much of anything else.  The neighborhood association has received a challenge grant from the Kaiser Family Foundation. If the neighborhood can raise $50,000, the foundation will match it.

"This will enable us to take care of the park for future generations," said Rodger Goodhead.

The association is selling commemorative bricks which will pave the inside of the gazebo and a walkway. 

There are still some hurdles, though.

Some utilities will have to be moved to make way for a sidewalk, but they hope to have to project completed by mid-summer.  It's creative use for a piece of property too small for housing yet too large to leave vacant.

The commemorative bricks can be purchased by anyone in the community.