The new Wapsi Bluff Shelter at Pinicon Ridge Park taking shape
Posted:6/3/2020
Linn
An
open air shelter and deck, which offers a breathtaking view of the Wapsipinicon
River, is under construction just beyond the entrance of Pinicon Ridge Park
near Central City. The project involves redeveloping the site of a former park
shop and service yard into a scenic overlook for public use for gatherings and
events. The overlook concept was
included in the Pinicon Ridge Park Master Plans, approved in 2015. Along with a
250 person seated shelter, the project includes new restrooms, a concrete
parking lot, and bioswales to control stormwater runoff. Horseshoe Falls Road
near the project site will also be improved. Although weather
delays slowed construction earlier this year, the Wapsi Bluff Shelter is
expected to open to the public in 2021.
Future development at this site will include a playground and a recreation
trail connection to the park that also connects to Central City.
The
$1.7 million Wapsi Bluff Shelter project is funded in part by Linn County Water
and Land Legacy Bonds and a $400,000 Iowa Great Places grant from the Iowa
Department of Cultural Affairs. Pinicon Ridge Park is part of the
Cedar-Wapsi Recreational Byway, along with Prospect Meadows and Indian Creek
Nature Center, which received an Iowa Great Place designation in 2014.
