For some, Forest Park is a 1,371-acre playground with winding trails, golf greens and ball fields. For others, it’s a cultural and experiential destination.
“Yet all agree it deserves to be cherished and protected,” said Lesley Hoffarth, president and executive director of Forest Park Forever. “And that’s the mission of Forest Park Forever.”
Forest Park recently made the top 10 list of Great Public Spaces for 2013, established by the American Planning Association. The association called Forest Park, the “heart” and “crown jewel of St. Louis” for its enduring design, cultural institutions and 137-year history.
“It’s hard to imagine that just 20 years ago this cultural and historic icon was in an embarrassing state of disrepair,” said Paul Farmer, the association’s chief executive officer.
Just within the last decade, the park has largely completed a carefully planned $100 million restoration funded through an ambitious public/private partnership. Many local residents may remember the crumbling steps at Grand Basin and the dilapidated boathouse. Those are gone now and have been replaced with majestic fountains, all-access stairs and paved pathways, and many other upgrades.
Yet, Hoffarth said there is much more work to do. The organization is now embarking on a $30 million capital improvement plan to renovate the bathrooms, expand the paths and trails, give the horse police a new stable, and revamp the Muny parking lot – among other improvements.
The first change people will see is new way-finding signs on the roads and paths next spring. Being the nation’s seventh largest urban park – 60 percent larger than New York’s Central Park – it’s not hard to get lost.
“The thing people want to see the most is better direction,” Hoffarth said.
Next year, they will start renovating the restrooms. During the winter months, the park closes down all but two bathrooms and most water fountains to ensure that the pipes don’t freeze and burst. Park planners recognize that it’s inconvenient for park goers, so they will turn several bathrooms into heated year-round restrooms. And rather than isolated huts, they will also look more like “gathering spots” with benches, bike racks and plantings.
For residents who ride or walk into the park from the entrances on Clayton and Skinker, it can be tricky crossing the street with no crosswalks.
“It’s a tough place for pedestrians and bicycles,” Hoffarth said. But that will change as well with a comprehensive plan to make it safer to cross the busy roads.
The trails around the park are mostly well connected, but some paths drop off in the middle of the park, Hoffarth said. Along with improving entrances, project leaders will be sewing up any gaps in the trail system, including routing a cross-park connector.
The parks waterways also will be improved. Currently, some ponds and streams aren’t accessible because of tall grasses and weeds. But in other areas, park engineers have already put flat rocks around the water, so people can sit and get close to the water. Hoffarth said they will continue to do that throughout the park. Engineers also will connect some park ponds with its river to aerate the water and reduce the park’s dependence on tap water.
Every year beer festivals and other events take place on the Muny parking lot. Forest Park Forever wants to encourage more of that by redesigning the lot to be more attractive and pedestrian-friendly. Construction will most likely begin in 2015.
“It’s in really bad shape, and we want to make it more sustainable and enhance the look of the area with shade trees to cool off the parking lot and protected walkways,” Hoffarth said.
Other future plans include building a playground and walking paths off of Carr Lane and upgrading Central Field, where the balloon race and LouFest are held, with pathways and more accessible restrooms. Service vehicles will also be able to use these paths during events.
The capital projects will be funded through a $30-million bond agreement between the City of Saint Louis and Forest Park Forever, signed in April 2013. As part of the agreement, project leaders will follow the city’s minority inclusion goals of contracting at least 25 percent minority-owned businesses and at least 5 percent women-owned businesses.
The organization also will raise private donor funds and purchase city bonds. Then the city will use the bond proceeds to execute city contracts for design and construction in Forest Park.
Forest Park Forever has already started raising money for these projects.
“We have 13 million visitors every year, and it takes its toll on the park,” she said. “We are hoping that people will understand that it always needs dollars to help care for it.”
For more information and to contribute, visit http://www.forestparkforever.org/ or call 314-367-7275.
