Work is underway to transform a once-vacant lot in High Ridge into a “pocket park” with a butterfly garden, picnic tables and benches, along with public parking.
Jefferson County Councilman Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) and county staff members and community organization representatives are working on the park at the corner of High Ridge Boulevard and Old Hunning Road across from the High Ridge Post Office. Haskins said the park is expected to be finished by late April or early May, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at that time.
A pocket park is a small outdoor space often located in an urban area surrounded by commercial buildings or houses, according to the National Recreation and Park Association.
The High Ridge property where the park is being built is about a third of an acre, and a gas station was located on the site about 20 years ago, Haskins said. It was also used as a car lot at one point, but was vacated, with overgrown trees and junk cars left on the property.
“The work has started,” Haskins said. “We’ve done some leveling, cleanup and removed the cars. We cut all the brush back. It looked really rough – probably the worst eyesore on the boulevard.”
Public Works Director Jason Jonas said the county purchased the property last year for $32,000. The High Ridge Rotary Club has donated $2,500 to place park benches on the property, and the Jefferson County Parks Foundation has donated about $5,000 for landscaping, specifically for plants that are known to attract butterflies.
Jonas said county crews worked to remediate four abandoned fuel tanks on the property by filling them with gravel and to complete rough grading at the site. That work cost $16,275.45.
“All of the gravel backfill for the old fuel tanks and the aggregate for the parking lot grading was from an old stockpile of pea gravel,” Jonas said. “The County used that material in the past for chip seal pavement preservation but moved to trap rock about 12-15 years ago.”
Once work is complete on the park, it will have 18 paved public parking spaces that people may use when visiting the park, taking a walk in the area or stopping in nearby businesses. The extra parking will also come in handy for the Public Works Department, which could temporarily store equipment, like a mower, there while it’s being used in the area, Haskins said.
“The goal is, when you have a parade, or people want to walk on the boulevard, they have a place to park other than somebody’s private business,” Haskins said. “You can maybe sit and have lunch (at the park), read a book, relax.”
Jonas said the asphalt for the parking area will cost the county about $8,750, and two signs to be placed at the parking lot entrance will cost a total of about $5,000.
One of the signs will say, “High Ridge Community Parking Lot – Owned by Jefferson County, Missouri,” and the other will list the rules for using the lot, such as no long-term parking, no soliciting, no unauthorized commercial activities, etc., Jonas said.