Barberry Park

About Barberry Park

This five-acre neighborhood park has a fishing lake and dock, non-reservable shelter, half basketball court, playground, and a concrete loop trail around the lake.

Park amenities

Activity areas

  • Basketball Court (1, half court)
  • Playgrounds (1)

Lakes

  • Fishing dock (1)
  • Fishing Lake (0.5 acres, no swimming)

Picnic areas

Park history

Columbia Parks and Recreation purchased lots 2 and 28 of the Valley View Ridge Subdivision in 2009 to be developed as a neighborhood park. The need for a neighborhood park in this area of the city was identified in the 2002 Facilities Needs Update of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan. The lots were purchased from Glen Strothmann of Homeview Properties, Inc. for $175,000 funded by the 2005 Park Sales Tax. The property is located in northwest Columbia and can be accessed from either Barberry Avenue or Zinnia Dr.

Lot 28 is approximately 4.36 acres in size and was developed with a house, three smaller out buildings, and a small pond.

Lot 2 is an irregular shaped lot approximately one-half acre in size that was originally platted to allow for the development of a non-traditional walkway along Barberry Ave.  It also provides access from Barberry to Zinnia Dr.  Mr. Strothmann agreed to include Lot 2 in the property acquisition with the understanding that the Parks and Recreation Department will develop the walkway along Barberry as part of the eventual development of the neighborhood park.

Park staff was initially contacted about this property in the spring of 2000.  At that time staff evaluated the property, concluded that it had good potential for development as a neighborhood park, and, at Council direction, had an initial appraisal of the property completed.   However, as the City did not have any available uncommitted funds for park acquisition, and as the appraisal was below the property’s asking price, it was eventually decided in 2001 to not pursue the acquisition.

Since 2001, Mr. Strothmann and park staff maintained contact, and negotiations regarding the property were re-opened.  As the initial 2001 appraisal was considerably below the owner’s estimate of value and as considerable development has occurred in the area near the proposed park over the next eight years, staff agreed to have two separate appraisals prepared for Lot 28 in order to help determine the value of the site.  Mr. Strothmann agreed to sell the property to the City for $175,000, which was substantially below the appraised value of $215,000 established for Lot 28 by the lower of the two completed appraisals.

The four buildings on the property were demolished in 2010 in preparation for the future park development.

Capital improvement projects and council items

year completed project description council items
2016 Barberry Neighborhood Park Development View Council Item