BELTON, Mo. — Brian Welborn, the director of Parks and Recreation in Belton, said the city has big plans for a donated plot of land it recently received.
"We’re driving down a trail to get to the new 69 acre park," Welborn said.
"This is the nature of Belton — we’re right on the outskirts of town," Welborn said. "We’re excited."
He says that’s what comes with a surprise donation of 69 acres of land.
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Welborn took KSHB 41's Megan Abundis around the 69 acres of land that butts up next to Cleveland Lake in Belton.
"There’s a huge buzz in Belton’s future in our community right now with the commercial growth and the residential growth," Welborn said.
Welborn believes the donated acres, when transformed into a multi-use outdoor space, will bring people from around the region to the city.
"It was probably the best phone call I’ve taken in two years, because it was Jack,” Welborn said.
Jack Dryden, a long-time Belton resident, donated the 69 acres.
Dryden said the land is a million-dollar value; it was previously farmed by Dryden with corn and soybeans.
"Ironically, Jack owned the land that is now Cleveland Lake, which is right next to the land he has donated,” he said.
Welborn said the city's parks and recreation department has $20 million dollar plans for the acres.
“Jack is a life-time Belton resident," Welborn said. “He loves this community, and I think it would be his dream to bring other people who haven’t been to Belton or don’t know about Belton, bring them into our community and show them something that he started with his donation. He loves the outdoors, loves nature, and he’s all about education as well."
Welborn said the land includes plans for four miles of trails, an amphitheater, an arboretum, a botanical garden, an orchard, a pumpkin patch, and plans for a community event space for weddings, gatherings, and educational meetings.
“Jack loves the Overland Park Arboretum, so they are in our design phase," he said. “It’s currently a level two arboretum; we’re hoping this land, with the tree development, will get to a level three arboretum. A group of students from Belton High School have already been out on the ground taking inventory and tagging trees. We’re out to a great start already."
He said this is all apart of Dryden's vision.
"Jack had hired an architectural firm on his own, and he mainly had a lot of the tree and trail design, and we’ve incorporated his vision of those trails into our plan," Welborn said.
He said families can plan for a 3-4 hour, half-day trip with things to do for people of all ages.
"This is a 100 year park; the nature piece will never go away," Welborn said.
Dryden comes from a long line of pharmacists.
Dryden’s Pharmacy Museum is right along Main Street.
"We have an idea of taking some of his pharmaceutical artifacts that were involved with plant-based medicine and taking them to our visitors center that will be constructed in addition to the live plants grown on property, so everyone can put the connection together," he said.
Welborn said the park construction will start in the next couple of years, with a five-year completion goal.
Until then, all 69 acres were planted with sunflowers.
Welborn said this fall get ready for a huge photography opportunity.
For more information, visit this link.
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