Advantages of our Park Plan

Conservation 

• Respects the “sense of place” described in the Historic Register 
• Preserves all the open space and creates a true Destination Park 
• Preserves the historical structures for future generations
• Has strong connections to the surrounding areas

Economic Impact. A world class destination park will. 

• Increase tourism to our capital city 
  • A conservative estimate of a 10% increase will yield $390 million dollars per year generating substantial additional hotel and meal taxes. 
• Encourages private development around the perimeter of the park on State as well as private property: 
• There are over 5200 properties on 3700 acres within 10 blocks of the park
• Will create an estimated $2.1 billion dollar gain in real estate value 
  • Will generate $22 million annually in additional property taxes. 
• Will encourage some large and many small developments 
• Developments will come to fruition at different times so they will compliment rather than compete with current downtown economic revitalization efforts.

Financing Options 

• Details the use of tax increment financing 
• Fully compatible with other financing options 
• Enumerates many additional funding opportunities that will become available to a park project of this scale 
• Takes advantage of both public and private funds. 
• Will inspire philanthropic generosity 
• Will lead to substantial endowments 
• Will create both one-time and ongoing revenue streams. 

Additionally 

• Provides for the DHHS employees to use historic buildings for up to 20 years 
• Allows neighboring landowners to make their own development decisions 
• Encourages landowners to develop their properties to create a synergy that adds value to their property as it builds the reputation of the park. 
• Includes a complete implementation plan identifying both the stakeholders and actions they must take 
• Recommends an open decision making and governing process that actively includes all the stakeholders.

To accomplish the above, it is critically important the park designers be given a critical mass of property sufficient to deliver the requirements outlined above.

Friends of Dorothea Dix Park White Paper and Park Plan
October 23, 2006

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Friends of Dorothea Dix White Paper v8.2
2.3 meg .pdf file

Executive Summary
(Read online 1900 Words)
A way to fund a "World Class Destination Park" using development on the perimeter, attracting grants, and providing great economic value to the community in the long term without harming the neighborhoods.

Prepared by
Greg Hummel
Jay Truty, Kalyna Procyk, Meg George
and his team at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd LLC
Chicago Illinois

Park Design for Dix Park

Prepared by
John Hoal
H 3 Studio
Designers of Forest Park in St. Louis, MO

Large scale showing details of park plan (full size picture 1.6meg)

Small scale view showing surrounding areas (full size picture 1.6meg)