Drury Students Present Noel Master Plan

PROPOSAL INCLUDES A BOARDWALK ON ELK RIVER, COMMUNITY GARDEN, AND STREETSCAPING

The third of four community visioning meetings was held in Noel at the Short-Poynor Community Room on Tuesday night.

The project, part of a partnership between Drury University and the University of Missouri Extension, has tasked a group of architecture students with envisioning where Noel could be in the next 20 to 25 years.

At the first meeting, students gathered information from community members about their goals for Noel. At the second meeting, students presented their initial proposals to the community and asked for feedback. On Tuesday night, students presented their master plan for Noel.

Issues addressed included a design for if Tyson leaves Noel or if it stays, floodplain management, Elk River embankment stabilization, a Main Street upgrade, streetscaping, housing needs and trends, parks and open spaces, event destinations and pedestrian and bicycle greenways.

The Main Street upgrade includes parallel parking, street furniture, and a community garden in a now-vacant area north of Main Street. It also includes a pathway that would connect the city park to Main Street and to a boardwalk along the Elk River. The upgrade also includes a proposal to reroute trucks off Main Street.

The event destinations portion of the master plan is intended to make Noel a destination yearround rather than just in the summer. It includes a regional vineyard with a winery in Noel and winter sports training facility with a ski lodge and ski slopes. It also suggests revitalizing an abandoned quarry in Lanagan as a way to connect the P.A.N.3 (Pineville, Anderson, Noel) area. This portion of the master plan also includes a large green space in Noel open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week, that would act as a temporary pond during flooding and a large lawn with a stream running through it the rest of the time.

The master plan also calls for a P.A.N.3 bike trail network that would connect with a proposed extended Razorback Greenway in Arkansas. The Razorback Greenway runs from south Bella Vista to south Fayetteville.

A proposed park would have three areas – very active, which would include a skate park, basketball court, playground, etc.; active, which would include bird watching areas, fishing platforms, a tree house and a picnic area; and passive, which would include a meditation garden and a pavilion.

The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 15 in the Short-Poynor Community Room. Students will present their final designs.