The Mora City Council decided to take a new approach to a long-discussed park in the Fox Run development at Tuesday's meeting.
According to city activity and recreation coordinator Jeff Krie, a proposed playground concept was approved by the city council in September of 2021.
Since then, Krie explained that the city hasn't been able to secure enough funds to start the project.
A grant from the state department of natural resources was rescinded due to a lack of matching funds.
Instead, Mora's park board proposed a nature playscape concept for the site.
The concept would be done in phases, use already-available resources, and be more financially achievable for the city.
Council member Kyle Shepherd discussed the costs of building a playground in the development.
"We had been talking for years about getting a playground there," he said. "And then we were trying to make it ADA compliant, and having the nicer features, but as we all know, it was going to cost $600,000 $700,000 for the equipment alone. It just became too unfeasible."
Council member Dave Youngquist said he'd like to see a park on the east side of Highway 65.
"When you look at the parks, you start to realize real quick that there isn't much on that side of the highway," Youngquist said.
Public Works superintendent Tim Sevcik said the goal of the park concept is to get kids to engage with nature.
"The goal of the nature play area is to use natural-type materials that you've designed in a way that feels comfortable and in a controlled environment, such as a park setting, where it looks similar to a playground but at the same time is similar to nature," Sevcik explained.
The council unanimously voted to move forward with planning a nature playscape for the Fox Run development.

Comments