Development is located on the former Storer Elementary School property.
By Tony Sandleben—
MUNCIE, Ind. – Storer Estates, which is a new subdivision with 34 lots, will be going out to bid this month. The new development will provide new housing options for Muncie and through collaboration with the Muncie Sanitary District, (MSD) the project will address drainage issues in the area. Now, through further efforts at collaboration with Mayor Ridenour, MSD, the neighborhood and the Muncie Redevelopment Commission (MRC) – a new park, Storer Woods Park, will be born.
The original plan was to build a playground for kids in the nearby neighborhoods and a dry pond to help with flooding in the area. However, thanks to funding from the MRC and the mayor’s EDIT fund, the City of Muncie is instead turning a portion of the area into a new city park.
The park, designed with heavy influence from residents in the area, includes building a foursquare court, two pickleball courts, a pavilion with picnic tables, a playground with a disk swing and an eight-foot-wide walking path. The concepts of the park design include using earth berms to create separation from the road for a sense of privacy and enclosure, provide shaded benches for parents to sit while their children play, provide a pavilion for picnics and shelter from the rain, create a sense of entry to the neighborhood, introduce native plantings around the park, use a high quality playground surface that requires minimal maintenance, use modern design elements to create an identity for the neighborhood and provide lots of shade. The MRC approved helping to fund this new park at its November 18thmeeting. Those funds will come from the sale of the lots.
“I am thrilled at the concept of bettering our great city through new and improved parks and green spaces,” said Mayor Ridenour. “This is simply another step in that belief by addressing the Northside’s park shortage while adding a new subdivision.”
The Muncie Sanitary District will also be putting in new draining work to Storer Estates which combined with the dry pond will help with the flooding issues in the area. In total, the new park will cost $235,397, part of which will be funded by the MRC and part of which will be funded through Mayor Ridenour’s EDIT funds. The bid process will begin later this month, accepted in January with construction to begin soon thereafter.
Click on the image to open a larger view.
