Bloomington's Goat Farm Park soon to be renamed Rogers Family Park
The Sherman Rogers family donated the property known as Goat Farm Park, 31.5 acres on East Winslow Road, to the Bloomington Parks Foundation in 2007. The city has been working on improving the area to include walking trails, seating and an extension of the native prairie.
In addition to donating the property, the Rogers family gave an additional $1 million in 2021 and 2022 to fund improvements to the park.
The park is home to a barn and silo and a five-acre restored native prairie. The Jackson Creek Trail runs along the eastern edge, connecting the High Street multi-use path to the north with Sherwood Oaks Park and Olcott Park to the south.
New trails around and through the park are paved, and boardwalks on the southwest side of the park are complete. The highly visible red Goat Farm barn was re-roofed in October 2022 and also received new siding, soffit and fascia.
More: No goats, but lots of improvements at Bloomington park known as 'the goat farm'
In 2017, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the first five-acre section of native prairie replaced a field of fescue on the north end of the property. Since then, the prairie has been managed through the removal of woody plants and invasive species and periodic mowing. The current project includes a more than five-acre expansion of the native prairie to the south that has required mowing and killing existing vegetation, including invasive species, to re-establish native plants through reseeding.
In addition to the native prairie, the park provides multiple benefits for wildlife. Chimney swift and bluebird boxes provide nesting habitat, and prairie plants help strain flood debris and improve water quality in Jackson Creek. The Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department also uses best management practices to maintain the protective vegetation on the banks of Jackson Creek, which runs along the eastern edge of the property.
The public art installation "FLEET/ing" by Jonathan Racek was installed in late March 2023. The new 10-space permeable paver parking area on the north end of the park, accessible via the Rogers/High/Winslow roundabout was expected to open this month.
As part of the overall goal of preserving the park as a passive, natural space, no overhead or parking lot lighting will be installed.
A ribbon cutting and re-naming ceremony of the park from the "Goat Farm" to "Rogers Family Park" with the Rogers family in attendance is tentatively planned for June.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington's Goat Farm Park soon to be renamed Rogers Family Park
