Hindman Discovery Garden at Stephens Lake Park

Rough grading and boulder work is underway at the Hindman Discovery Garden. Most of the large boulders have been placed, the overlook wall is completed, most of the Council Ring has been completed and work has begun on the living wall. Please see the photos below to view the progress.

View of the overlook from the Stephens Lake Trail.

The living wall under construction.

Boulders being set by the grading contractor.

The Council Ring grading is complete. We still have a lot of planting to do.

Posted by MS 8-18-2011.

The Wizard of Oz Moved Indoors Tonight

Mother Nature 1, Parks & Recreation 0 (OK...it's more like 100-0, but you get the point)

Mother Nature wins again.

Due to the rain, the last movie in the Stephens Lake Outdoor Cinema Series scheduled for tonight September 12 will be moved indoors to the Stephens Lake Activity Center. The Center is at 2311 E. Walnut, just north of Stephens Lake Park.

The movie to be shown tonight is The Wizard of Oz, at 7:45 p.m. The price is $3 per person; children 6 and under are free. Bring a blanket or lawn chair if desired. Folding chairs will be available.

Movie-goers are encouraged to come early to enjoy pre-show entertainment from Chris Hatfield, starting at 7 pm. Also, bring a camera to get a picture with the characters from the movie.

The Outdoor Cinema Series is sponsored by Columbia Parks and Recreation, the Columbia Daily Tribune, Columbia Convention & Visitors Bureau and U.S. Cellular.

Call Parks and Recreation at 874-7460 for more information or visit the Special Events page at www.GoColumbiaMo.com/ParksandRec.

Thursday Night (8/28/08) Storm Damage

Mother Nature is certainly at it again. Thursday night's rain and high winds certainly caused us some problems. Throughout the day on Friday, reports kept coming in regarding trees and limbs on playgrounds, roads, trails and parks.

The photo above is at Stephens Lake Park where a limb fell on a portion of the Gordon Shelter Playground.

As bad as it is to lose a tree and some limbs, the messy problems were with the trash cans and port-a-pots blowing over and spilling their contents all over the parks. I think Cosmo Park took the worst hit in this regard. Nearly every trash can and portable toilet got blown over. Thank goodness we rent the port-a-pots and don't have to clean those!

Anyway, thank you to everyone who called in to report problems. This really helps us keep our crews moving as we don't have to spend a lot of time inspecting every park. By 7:30 am on Friday, we already knew about several problem areas all as a result of citizen assistance. Remember, the number to call and report any park problems is 573-874-7201. Program that number in your cell-phone!