BRENTWOOD, Mo. — The City of Brentwood's brand-new park opens this weekend!
It's the latest in a series of improvements in the city. Brentwood Park includes lots of green space and a new pavilion. It also has an amphitheater, a stream that mimics Deer Creek as a learning tool for schools and, come this fall, a destination playground for kids.
The park is part of a massive project known as Brentwood Bound, designed to increase safety and reduce flooding along Manchester Road.
"It's not as if there's a three-ring binder on a bookshelf that you can pull down, open up and read it like a recipe on how to do something like this," Brentwood Mayor David Dimmitt said.
Brentwood leaders and residents all gathered for the ribbon cutting of the park Friday morning.
"We have turned a once neglected property into a destination that will be cherished by our residents for decades," said Dave Plufka with the Brentwood Board of Aldermen.
He said the park is just one piece of the Brentwood Bound project.
"We'd established a couple of things in Brentwood: a history of revenue and a track record of repeated flooding," he said. "We're hoping that what it does is usher in a greater amount of safety for the businesses here and for the residents along Manchester Road that three, four, five times a year would wake up to flooding water."
He said this history fueled years of plans for where the city is at today.
"It just adds to our community. Look how we're growing. We're getting bigger and bigger in Brentwood," longtime resident Jane Rich said.
She's on board with what this means for the next generation of Brentwood, too.
"When the new playground opens for the kids, I have two grandkids and I can't wait to get them there!" she said.
There is a grand opening celebration for the park on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be free activities, entertainment and food to purchase from food trucks.