COUNCIL BLUFFS — Construction should start this fall on a “signature” Council Bluffs park that ultimately will offer 85 acres for recreation, outdoor movies and concerts, hiking, biking and other uses.
The riverfront park will be developed at the eastern end of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge that links Council Bluffs and Omaha
COUNCIL BLUFFS — Construction should start this fall on a “signature” Council Bluffs park that ultimately will offer 85 acres for recreation, outdoor movies and concerts, hiking, biking and other uses.
The riverfront park will be developed at the eastern end of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge that links Council Bluffs and Omaha
I think this looks like a great proposal for the west side of the levee. I appreciate that they are planning residential and commercial development in Playland Park, but the trees are definitely blocking the views as well as making the CB side of the bridge look horrible in my opinion. In 5 years, both sides of the Pedestrian Bridge should be looking great.
I love that they are adding an outdoor ice rink. Â Would be really cool if they design it to accommodate hockey boards so you could have games there occasionally. Â None of the other outdoor rinks, Mahoney and UNMC, can do that.
This will be a great spot to put on concerts. Â Putting the stage down by the river would make for some great views of the downtown skyline, especially if Wall Street Tower is realized.
Looks like an amazing park plan, and a great "door mat" (with no negative connotations!) for the Playland Park development and the city of Council Bluffs!
Hopefully, this plan can serve as a shot in the arm for development of the area!
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
I think you have a unique perspective on all of this development, and I can appreciate your frustration with the yahoos who you keep encountering. Â Hopefully the new plans will address the parking problems and maybe the city can do something to keep the rest of the problem people out of your hair. Â A neighborhood permit system for parking might be an answer to some of your concerns.
As an outsider, I am really hoping this plan develops as promised.
I can understand your frustration. Â I would be upset too! Â Any time I have gone to the park (to use the Ped Bridge) I was frustrated by the lack of parking. Â I felt bad for the people on your street. Â Hopefully with the development of the park, and subsequent parking lots, you will have your street back.
Welcome Jwunderlich! Â I can certainly understand your frustrations with everything going on, but I would like to say that everything that's been going on and will be going on has certainly been promoted and there's been lots of information put out about meetings and such, sorry that you feel in the dark about these things. Â With the Playland Park construction, I'm sure there's going to be even more of a premium for parking. Â It may be helpful for you and your neighbors to go before City Council asking for signs directing people to park at Harrahs if they want to use the bridge.
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
Jason4225 wrote:I think this looks like a great proposal for the west side of the levee. I appreciate that they are planning residential and commercial development in Playland Park, but the trees are definitely blocking the views as well as making the CB side of the bridge look horrible in my opinion. In 5 years, both sides of the Pedestrian Bridge should be looking great.
Hold on, let me get my pencil and paper.....okay, trees next to a river, not good.....got it.
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
I can second everyone's constructive suggestions to go before the city council to pursue neighborhood parking permits, etc.
However, I would add that neighborhoods evolve and change, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse. Other than perhaps for the extreme minority of adjacent residents (of which you are a part), this is a HUGE change for the better.
It is your prerogative to move if you don't like the change. My guess is, if you can hold out, some speculative developer will eventually come in and buy you all out, and you'll all make huge profits on what are otherwise very typical suburban split-entry homes.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
Also, I saw on the front page of the OWH e-edition preview (which I can't view as a non-subscriber), that there were some detailed renderings and a big site plan/map showing where everything would go.
Does anyone have any idea where one can look at these renderings in greater detail?
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Also, I saw on the front page of the OWH e-edition preview (which I can't view as a non-subscriber), that there were some detailed renderings and a big site plan/map showing where everything would go.
Does anyone have any idea where one can look at these renderings in greater detail?
I have it at home and have been meaning to bring it in and scan it.
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Also, I saw on the front page of the OWH e-edition preview (which I can't view as a non-subscriber), that there were some detailed renderings and a big site plan/map showing where everything would go.
Does anyone have any idea where one can look at these renderings in greater detail?
I would imagine the Co. Bluffs city govt. website will have them up in the near future.
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
I guess I'll be doing my runs on the river going to the north more often. Â I think the park will be nice (too bad the ampitheatre stage won't have downtown as a backdrop) but that road...i will definitely be running north to enjoy the scenery and quiet.
Ah! This is such a great park plan. This is exactly the caliber of greenspace that that location called for, and along with the eventual mixed-use development to the East, this is exactly what the kind of anchor needed on the CB side of the Kerrey Bridge.
PS: Maybe it's been mentioned already, but has anyone else noticed that the skyline angle in the main rendering is WAY off. The angle is that of the view from Harrah's superimposed over the interstate from the point of view of the CB side of the Kerrey Bridge.
Last edited by StreetsOfOmaha on Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
The Great Lawn which fronts right onto the River with the Omaha skyline right there reminds me of this park I experienced in Brisbane, Australia. It is right across the river from the downtown core. The "beach" you see is a man-made pool of sorts, and the river (not visible in this photo) is between the skyline and the park.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
It looks like work to remove the trees is set to start immediately and be finished by spring. That should really give an idea of the scope of this park, and show off some of the views that it will offer.
Tim Rohwer
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE wrote:City officials plan to create a riverfront park over 85 acres of land for recreation, outdoor entertainment and other uses. About 200 trees, most of them cottonwoods, must be removed to create the park's planned Great Lawn as well as a road for the park.
The tree removal has to be done quickly, Mayor Tom Hanafan said. Bats nest in these trees beginning in the spring, and federal rules prohibit removal of the trees once that nesting begins, Hanafan said.
“We have a small window to work with,” he said. “Environmentally, you have to be careful and follow the rules, and we are.”
The Great Lawn will be a six-acre open space just south of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Planners envision a setting where the public can relax, walk their pets or enjoy outdoor concerts and movies.
A tree-replacement program is part of the removal, Hanafan said.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
Tim Rohwer
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE wrote:
The tree removal has to be done quickly, Mayor Tom Hanafan said. Bats nest in these trees beginning in the spring, and federal rules prohibit removal of the trees once that nesting begins, Hanafan said.
I guess I didn't realize bats were that big of a deal? Â They are everywhere over there.
There were no public requests at Monday evening’s Council Bluffs City Council meeting to keep some 200 trees along the Missouri River from the chopping block.
The council held a public hearing on the removal of those trees to make way for a new park just across the river from downtown Omaha. There were no speakers in favor or against.
The council unanimously approved the removal of the trees, most of which are cottonwoods, to create the “Great Lawn,” a six-acre open space where the public can relax, walk their pets or enjoy outdoor concerts and movies . . .
In a related issue, the council approved the transfer of a small piece of city property on the south side of Lake Manawa to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The transfer is part of an agreement by which the DNR will transfer the 85 riverfront acres that will eventually become River’s Edge Park to the city. The same agreement also terminates city management of land on the lake’s north side so that the DNR can build a campground. The city’s management of that land was set to expire in 2011.
This action, however, has created concern for the 150-plus member Lake Manawa Sailing Association that has sublet a portion of the city-managed land for its operations for many years. The group fears the DNR will shut them down to make way for that campground. . . .
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
Just replying that i appreciate every ones comments and if anyone is interested in a possible investment opportunity on a home in the playland park area please let me know. Â Â I am looking forward to see what happens and excited for the new development but it is like a child waiting for a tooth to come out to come out. Â Cant wait till it happens but it is a pain in the process.
Quote fom Streets "PS: Maybe it's been mentioned already, but has anyone else noticed that the skyline angle in the main rendering is WAY off. The angle is that of the view from Harrah's superimposed over the interstate from the point of view of the CB side of the Kerrey Bridge."
That's a way of rendering (collage-like) that produces an altered sense of reality - it further reinforces the image as a rendering (and not reality as some firms like to produce) - very typical of avant garde architects like Koolhaas and MVRDV - has "trickled" from renderings of buildings to landscapes (and everything in between - because some buildings can be considered landscapes). Â When you see a rendering like this, you can be assured that this is a cutting-edge design firm very much unlike the RDG, HDR, and DLRs of the world.
Hmm. That's not how I interpret it at all. It seems like an oversight on the part of Sasaki.
If that was their intention, why not just use general skyline shapes in the distance, or an all-together fake/created skyline?
Anyway, it's no matter, really. I was just pointing it out.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
brad, icejammer: do either of you know what purpose the big burm in the middle of playland serves? Â It looks like a dirt bridge, and you guys seem to be in the know on engineering type stuff
With out seeing it, it could be any number of things. Â My first guess is that its all the topsoil from where they are working. Â It also could be a surcharge, but I kind of doubt that because they are building any structures yet.
I don't know how long they've been at it, but looks like they've already made a really good start. Was down at the bridge today and they had a crew going to town with the tree removal already.
By John Keenan WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Council Bluffs Parks Director Larry Foster apparently isn’t a man to leave a job half-done. Foster, who also spent years with the Omaha Parks and Recreation Department, was involved in developing Omaha’s side of the river, including the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Where the Omaha side of the river “has a certain look of a more urban park,” the Iowa side will be “much more natural. That’s been one of the guiding lights of our design process,” he said. Â Foster talked about aspects of the project that included a riverside beach, an ampitheater and other features.
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Hmm. That's not how I interpret it at all. It seems like an oversight on the part of Sasaki.
If that was their intention, why not just use general skyline shapes in the distance, or an all-together fake/created skyline?
Anyway, it's no matter, really. I was just pointing it out.
I don't know when their backdrop skyline picture was taken, but I think it probably had more to do with the fact that it was much easier to get a good skyline shot from the Harrah's northwest parking lot or Riverside Grille, rather than trudging out to the playland or new river's edge site. I guess being avant garde can go hand-in-hand with practicality, if that was really their intent. :)
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings" ...and then they were gone.
I went down there yesterday. Â They really need to get rid of the one group of trees next to the bridge. Â While the Omaha skyline looks great, the ped bridge is hidden!
Wow.... Â I know this is the highest the river's been in a while, but they're certainly going to need to have to find a way to rope this park off to prevent little ones from getting swept away. Â I knew that the "wet" side of the levee in CB occasionally flooded, but now with no trees, its practically impossible to see the banks of the river from the Omaha side. Â
I'd venture to guess that half of this park land is currently under water. Â They said the design took flooding into account, but I can't see how water levels like this wouldn't absolutely destroy most anything that they'd put in.
are they looking to raise the level of the ground? Â We went for a walk on the bridge and i thought that, too. Â i can't imagine they'd just let it be? Â Too much invested to be washed away or destroyed by all the |expletive| floating in the river (i noticed 2 or more biig logs floating down sream---almost like full tree trunks).
 I am looking forward to see what happens and excited for the new development but it is like a child waiting for a tooth to come out to come out.  Cant wait till it happens but it is a pain in the process.
