Council Bluffs’ Bayliss Park has been named to a national list of Great Public Spaces.
The American Planning Association named Bayliss Park to its 2014 list of 10 Great Public Spaces. The park was chosen from 100 applicants nationwide. It joins three other Iowa parks that have previously received the recognition.
Larry Foster, director of Council Bluffs’ Parks, Recreation, and Public Property Department, says the designation recognizes Bayliss Park’s unique features, public art, and traditional feel.
“It’s a park that hearkens back to how we used to do parks in the 1800s, and yet it’s now been appropriately brought in a more modern approach to the fountain and some of the art pieces in the park.”
Foster says the park’s renovation was carefully done with a Master Plan that included public input.
Pete Tulipana is President and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, which gave a $2 million matching grant in 2005 for the park’s fountain, as part of a renovation. He says that fountain is only one part of what makes Bayliss Park a great place.
“First of all, its location. It’s central to the city and it’s sort of a town square. It’s a traditional type of town square design. The park is very well maintained. It’s very accessible to the community, there are places for kids to play in the water, you all the time see people picnicking out there.”
Bayliss Park was renovated in 2007. It also joins Omaha’s Dundee-Memorial Park on the list of Great Public Spaces.
The land for Bayliss Park was donated in 1854.