Bloomington is moving forward with the redesign of Goat Farm Park on the east side. Once completed, the property will be renamed Rogers Family Park.
The city’s board of park commissioners Tuesday approved more than $750,000 in construction contracts for the project, which is funded through a donation from Sherman and Meredith Rogers. Oscar’s Contracting will repair the barn for $110,000 and Scenic Construction Services will upgrade and convert the rest of the property for $643,460.
READ MORE: Bloomington parks department unveils Goat Farm Park design
The city will add a new path through the prairie to create a half mile loop. The renovation also includes native plant gardens, new seating under a renovated barn porch, and 10 new parking spaces accessible from the East Winslow Road and South High Street roundabout.
“There’s no sports fields or anything like that, there’s no big gathering space, there’s no rentable shelter,” Tim Street said, operations and development division director for the parks and recreation department. “We really want to keep the character of this park to be quiet.”
The Rogers family donated the 33-acre property to the Bloomington Parks Foundation in 2007, and it was deeded as a park in 2009. The family donated $650,000 to the project in 2020 but agreed recently to give an additional almost $300,000 to repair the barn.
“A lot of people, including [the city], expressed a desire to preserve it and fix it up,” Street said. “The Rogers’ additional donation will generously include a new roof and siding and painting and renovation of the exterior of the barn.”
The project also includes a public art installment named “FLEET/ing” by local artist Jonathan Racek.
Construction will begin this fall, with new asphalt paths and barn repairs complete by the end of the year. The entire project is scheduled to be complete by spring 2023.
