cardinal run

Initial plans for a new 137-acre park off of Parkers Mill and Versailles roads include a 10-acre dog park, multiple athletic fields, a playground, trails and open green spaces.

Cardinal Run North, which is scheduled to open in 2024, will be the first large park to be opened in 25 years.

Cardinal Run North will offer amenities on a similar scale to other large parks, such as Jacobson Park or Shillito Park, city officials said.

The land that is now Cardinal Run North and South was donated to the city in 1997. Cardinal Run South opened in the early 2000s. However, the city did not have money to develop Cardinal Run North.

Thanks largely to federal coronavirus relief money, the city finally has money to develop the 137 acres.

On Monday, Brandstetter Carroll Inc., EHI Consultants and the city unveiled initial plans for the park at a meeting at Beaumont Middle School.

The initial plans call for much of the green space or unused areas to be located on the side of the park that backs up to residential areas including The Silks and Wellesley Heights neighborhood. The entrance to the park will be on Parkers Mill Road.

The proposed sports fields will be on the side of the park closest to New Circle Road.

Many residents of neighborhoods that abut the property said they were glad the initial designs kept all the active uses of the park — including playing fields — away from neighborhoods.