Common milkweed peppers the edges of a trail that leads to a playground and pavilion in Zionsville’s newest nature preserve. Red-winged blackbirds flit between young trees, and cattails stand sentinel along the edges of a pond, nearly hiding it from passersby.
These scenes will greet visitors at the 215-acre Carpenter Nature Preserve, which is one step closer to opening following a May 21 ribbon cutting that marks the end of the park’s first phase of construction.
The first park in Union Township, Carpenter Nature Preserve will be the largest in Boone County when it opens to the public in mid-June. The preserve was initially set to open in time for Memorial Day weekend, but adverse weather in recent weeks derailed the plan. Staff are still working to stabilize the site and make it safe for visitors.
Jim and Nancy Carpenter, for whom the preserve is named, have been familiar faces in Zionsville parks and were instrumental in protecting the land, the former Wolf Run Golf Course, free from development. The Carpenters purchased the land in 2017 and then sold it at a discount to the town.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, the couple thanked town and state officials, and the Zionsville Parks Foundation for the community effort that went into creating the preserve.
“This park now belongs to the future because of you,” Jim Carpenter told the crowd gathered at the ceremony. “And while today is us celebrating the benefits to us humans, we’re also celebrating the benefits for the countless living things that cannot stand at this podium.”
Nancy, who stood at the podium with Jim, said the opening of the preserve marks a new chapter for Zionsville and the effort it takes to bring land back to its natural state.
“My hope is this preserve will inspire others here in Boone County and beyond to protect and restore more of these precious places as a gift to our beautiful planet and to future generations,” Nancy said.
Nine years ago when the Carpenters bought the land from developers then-Mayor Emily Styron asked the couple to keep it free from development. They held onto the property until the town leveraged state and federal grants to acquire it in 2021 for $5.5 million with money left over for the initial construction and restoration phase.
Current Zionsville Mayor John Stehr also attended the grand opening ceremony and pointed out that while towns in Hamilton County may be busy building mixed-use districts, the Carpenter Nature Preserve has a somewhat different focus.
“Although here, mixed-use means a place for deer and foxes to roam forests and grasslands; beavers, turtles and snakes to live in and around the lakes that are here and also bats and dozens of species of birds to look down on all of it from above,” Stehr said.
The Town of Zionsville and the Zionsville Parks Foundation will announce additional opening details in the following weeks.
Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk or BlueSky @karlstartswithk.bsky.social.
IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Officials and community celebrate Zionsville’s newest park
Reporting by Karl Schneider, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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