Loveland is Holding a “Name This” Campaign!

How would like knowing that YOU named something that’s going to be around for decades to come?

The City of Loveland is giving you THAT chance this month!

Get the details inside!

In south Loveland, 121 acres have been purchased and will be developed into open space open to the public.  The land has been owned by Hewlett-Packard and Agilent for many years- so right now the land is called “The Hewlett-Packard Agilent Open Space“- makes sense, but it has no pizazz!

From The Reporter-Herald:

“We want people to think of the history and the natural features of the site,” said Brian Hayes, the city’s open lands director.

The grasslands, wetlands, fishing ponds, the corridor along the Big Thompson River — land that in the past has been cherry orchards, farm fields and even gravel mines — are home to game, birds, small critters, and even fish and amphibians.

The area is close to Centennial Park and Jayhawker Ponds -off of 1st and Taft.  I went over there this week;  honestly, I’d never visited Jayhawker Ponds before- it’s great! Fishing, trails, nature- just awesome.  That’s what city officials are hoping for on a larger scale with the 121 acres- set to be open in the spring of 2013.  Below is the ‘preferred design’ that the city recently unveiled:

 

This is going to be huge, and beautiful!

Courtesy of The Reporter-Herald:

The design, developed by city park planners and consultant AECOM, calls for walking paths, a boardwalk out onto the wetlands, enhanced wildlife habitat as well as fishing and non-motorized boating on the three ponds.

Through May, the city is taking suggestions on what to exactly name the area.  According to The Reporter-Herald the last time the city took naming suggestions was for the ‘buffer’ area between Loveland and Fort Collins, know now as Prairie Ridge Natural Area.

So put your thinking cap on, maybe head over to the area- at least to Jayhawker Ponds (by the way- who came up with THAT name? I looked up the word “jayhawker” and it has little or nothing to do with nature OR Loveland) and come up with a name for Loveland’s next great open space/park!

To get more information on the open space visit the City of Loveland’s site- and The Reporter-Herald.