The city of Westwood’s park planning steering committee is meeting for the first time on March 4.
The committee is charged with guiding city officials on development of the new 3.8-acre park that is part of the Karbank Real Estate Company’s office-park project headed to West 50th Street and Rainbow Boulevard.
Karbank plans to build six office-retail buildings along Rainbow Boulevard on the sites of Joe D. Dennis Park and the former Westwood Christian Church.
In exchange for building on Joe D. Dennis Park, Karbank is giving the city of Westwood money to purchase the original Westwood View Elementary building and build a replacement park on that site just to the west.
The park planning steering committee’s first meeting comes less than two weeks after a Johnson County judge sided with the city of Westwood against a resident-led petition that called for a public vote on the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park.
Westwood will lead design and construction of the park
- The city plans to use a tax increment financing district that encompasses the property of the future Karbank project to fund the development of the park.
- Westwood intends to hire a professional park planning consultant to bring the vision for the park — dictated via public engagement and the steering committee — to life, according to city documents.
- The park planning steering committee will make a recommendation to the planning commission and the city council on a design and amenity outline for the park, according to city documents.
There is no public comment, interaction at committee meetings
- The committee will meet at least once a month from March to December, City Administrator Leslie Herring told the Post via email.
- While the committee meetings are open to the public, Herring said, there is no public comment or interaction between the attendees and the committee members.
- Herring said the committee is charged with developing a comprehensive community engagement effort to ensure the public has multiple opportunities to provide input.
- Public engagement is anticipated to begin around Labor Day 2024, she said.
The city is eyeing Oktoberfest 2027 for a park ribbon cutting
- Westwood plans to finalize the park design recommendation in the first quarter of 2025, according to city documents.
- Construction is anticipated to begin in the second quarter of 2026 and last until the third quarter of 2027, depending on the final design of the park.
- A ribbon cutting is tentatively scheduled for Oktoberfest 2027, according to city documents.
Keep reading: Much-watched Westwood land to change ownership in 2024
