by Dennis Dalman
With a bit of luck (fingers crossed), St. Joseph will soon be able to start developing a 95-acre swath of land known as East Park.
With recent city-council approval, St. Joseph Community Development Director Nate Keller submitted a grant application to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Outdoor Recreation Program. It would be a matching grant with $250,000 from the state, matched by $250,000 from the city.
Some people in St. Joseph and its surrounding area are not even aware of East Park. The city-owned land is located along the meandering Sauk River. Its eastern boundary side is south of Kennedy Community School along CR 121 (College Avenue) stretching westward to the area of the Interstate 94 interchange.
In an interview with the St. Joseph Newsleader, Keller said the grant, if accepted, could be awarded early this summer.
The money would be used to add trails to East Park, as well as a floating dock and an access for canoes and kayaks. Entrance improvements and a parking area would also be added for safety considerations. Those amenities are considered to be, at this point, just Phase I of an ongoing project, Keller noted. If Phase I can be completed with help from the DNR grant money, Keller said that could help convince the DNR to give future funding for subsequent phases for the project. The grant program, he added, is a “highly competitive” one.
Other possible additions someday could include more trails or unique river elements such as a boardwalk.
In 2018, East Park plans were included in a master plan approved by the St. Joseph City Council. At that time there were design plans and input provided at open-house sessions and hearings.
A couple of years ago, the city approved the planting of native plants on 20 acres of East Park and plantings of woodland seedlings in another 10-acre area of the 95-acre parkland.
Before being hired by the City of St. Joseph about 18 months ago, Keller had worked for years in community development for Sartell. During that time, Keller succeeded in landing a DNR Outdoor Recreation grant that made improvements and amenities to Sartell’s Watab Park through which the Sauk River also flows, as it does through St. Joseph’s East Park.
The Sauk River flows for 90 miles generally in a southwest direction from Lake Osakis in western Todd County and in or near the cities of Sauk Centre, Spring Hill, St. Martin, Richmond, Cold Spring, St. Joseph, Waite Park, St. Cloud and Sartell. It empties into the Mississippi River at Sartell.
