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Courtesy of John Collins Muhammad
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Courtesy of John Collins Muhammad
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Courtesy of John Collins Muhammad
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Courtesy of John Collins Muhammad
Visitors to O'Fallon Park in North St. Louis might have noticed an extra pop of green behind the expansive greenery recently. Recently, 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad unveiled the results of renovations on the historic O'Fallon Park Boathouse. The work is part of a three-year project including upgrades to park infrastructure and a fresh coat of paint.
The new and improved boathouse underwent plumbing, roof, and foundational repairs, preparing it for once again becoming a community attraction. Additional plans slated for completion by 2021 include the reintroduction of boat rides—an activity that hasn't taken place in the park since 1970—a concession stand at the top of the boathouse, and a community hangout spot in the bottom portion of the boathouse, with couches, TVs, and a conference room for the O'Fallon Neighborhood Group.
“We want to make sure we're opening up the boathouse to the public and make sure the public knows this is a place that they can come and that they don't have to go Forest Park to enjoy outside,” Collins-Muhammad says. “They can get the amenities in Forest Park, or they can get it right here in their own backyard, right off of West Florissant in O'Fallon Park.”
Collins-Muhammad says the students at Yeatman Middle School were asked for input on the new color palette, along with the parks commissioner and the Mayor's office. “We had to use paint that would stand the test of time, and paint that would actually complement the historical ambiance of the boathouse,” he says. “The new colors just give it a fresher look, an updated look, and we're also using eye-catching colors so that when you're in the park, you can't help but look at this boathouse.”
The $1 million upgrade was part of a $2 million O'Fallon Park redevelopment plan that has been possible through a variety of partnerships, including strengthening their ties with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Their recent video on the City of St. Louis' Facebook page details some of the Missouri Department of Conservation's latest efforts to restore natural habitats, clean the lake and trails, remove invasive species, and plant new wildlife with the help of a Back to Nature Grant awarded to the city.
“When I first came into office, my biggest thing was making sure that we invest in O'Fallon Park because I know that this is a treasure, this is a gem. And I know that the more that we invest in O'Fallon Park, the bigger the investment we will see in turn within our community,” Collins-Muhammad says. “I'm doing everything that I can to invest in it, make it better, make it cleaner, make it safer and just give it all of the amenities that our community once had and probably phased out, to make sure that we're doing everything we can to attract residents to use this park."
He says once the project is fully completed, community members will also be able to rent out the space for weddings and special events. The boathouse is a backdrop to a five-acre fishing lake, a recreation center, and 125 acres of green space first established in 1908.
O'Fallon Park is one of three boathouses in the city, including its sister boathouse in Carondolet Park in South City. “At the time they were built, boathouses were almost just like city recreation centers … They were the headquarters of the park—that's where you would see the park manager, and that's where you would see park crews—and that's where all the entertainment was taking place,” Collins-Muhammad says. “So they were very important early on when parks were established in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.”
When Collins-Muhammad proposed his mission to restore the boathouse and overall park when he began his term in 2017, it wasn't a popular idea—at first. The Alderman says that in early conversations, some residents regarded the park as a lost cause. “But I do believe that when you have an amenity like this and you don't invest in it, I think people see that,” he says. “If they see that City Hall or the Alderman doesn't care about O'Fallon Park, why should they, the people, care about O'Fallon Park?”
He's confident that, as the transformation is unfolding, the community is going to see the return on investment: “I think people are starting to finally see the beauty in O'Fallon Park.”
