Community Activists in Muldoon Seek Park

Also envision bike trails, soccer fields

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By Lauren Maxwell
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Story Created: Aug 18, 2012 at 5:02 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Aug 19, 2012 at 8:37 AM AKDT

ANCHORAGE - You don’t have to look further than Muldoon Road to see what some would describe as urban sprawl. The northeast part of town is filling up fast with some of the densest housing allowed. Some who live and work here say a Muldoon Park or town square should be part of the plan.

Stu Grenier is on the Northeast Community Council Board. Grenier is heading the effort to turn a 29-acre parcel owned by the city into a park. It’s land that used to be the site of the Alaska Green House property.

In addition to a community gathering place, Grenier envisions the plat lined with bike trails and soccer fields.

“You could have community gardens or places to walk dogs,” says Grenier. “A lot of people have suggested a skateboard park too.”

But where Grenier and others see a park, the city may have a different plan.

In a few months city engineers will re-route a meandering stream that runs through the property.

Fish and Game determined a long time ago that the stream needed to be shifted to make it easier for salmon to pass through. But some suspect the work is also being done to make it easier to sell the property to a developer.

And it could happen. The parcel is zoned for commercial development as well as residential.

There is also land set aside for a park, 13 acres, but the plan is to set that towards the back of the parcel.

Grenier says that’s not acceptable, he wants the park visible from Muldoon Road.

“You have to put the park where the people are,” he says. “I mean if we are just strip malls then that’s all we are, a strip, if we have a town square, we have a sense of community.

The city says there has been no decision yet on what will happen with the property, although the stream re-route is going through. A public comment period on the park issue ended in July and there has been nothing scheduled yet with the Anchorage Assembly.
 

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Robo said on Thursday, Aug 23 at 4:07 PM

If a group wants a park so badly, then buy the land and build it with private money for donation to the city. Win--Win for the community, the city gains money for services and the community gains a new park.

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