What would you change about BaratHaven Park if the city asked? Dardenne Prairie is asking now, and the timing matters more than usual. The first improvements on the list are small and mostly about the water. The larger sum that could reshape the park has only been projected, so it is still a staff recommendation and not yet a budget line. On October 13, the city's open house falls between those two stages.
What the Board Approved on September 16
At its Sept. 16 meeting, the Dardenne Prairie Board of Aldermen voted 5–0, with one member absent, to accept a proposal from SWT Design Inc. for a master plan, engineering and Phase I improvements at BaratHaven Park. Mid Rivers Newsmagazine reported that City Administrator Kyle Michel said negotiations with SWT were still ongoing at that point, so the figures below were ballpark estimates.
| Item | Estimate | Status as of the Sept. 16 report |
|---|---|---|
| Master plan | About $55,000 | Ballpark, negotiations ongoing |
| Improvements meant to finish by fiscal year-end | About $25,000 | Ballpark |
| Total spending for the rest of FY2026 | About $250,000 | Already budgeted this fiscal year |
| More capital funding for FY2027 | About $410,000 | Staff expects to recommend it |
The proportions are the point. The work planned for this fiscal year costs about a tenth of the $250,000 already budgeted, and the FY2027 figure is bigger than that whole budget. According to Michel's report, engineers and city officials plan to gather community input on possible park additions. That input arrives before the $410,000 recommendation goes to the board.
The city says the plan is meant to turn earlier planning and community priorities into actual improvements. SWT will look at recreational amenities, park access and connectivity, lake improvements, environmental and maintenance needs, programming, and what to fund first.
Why the Lake Keeps Coming Up
BaratHaven covers 94 acres, with 3 miles of trails, soccer fields, a cricket pitch and a 15-acre lake. The lake gets the most attention in the Phase I list. Mid Rivers reported these possible improvements for this year:
- An ADA-accessible fishing dock
- Lake aeration
- A shelter or pavilion
- Trail or accessibility improvements
- Other park amenities
The first two are about the water itself, and the lake has come before the board before. In an earlier Mid Rivers report, the city looked at a project because Dardenne Creek kept getting into the lake. At the time, the spillway let creek water flow into the lake whenever the creek rose. That water carried silt and made the lake shallower, and it also pushed water and mud onto the lakeside walking and biking trail. The proposed fix would install a new one-way, low-flow spillway pipe, plus a concrete swale along the trail to carry stormwater from the Henning Road bridge to culverts extended out to the creek. Two Alpha Contracting, LLC submitted the low bid of $81,024, and the board voted 6–0 to pass Bill #19-36, which authorized the mayor to negotiate and sign a contract with the company.
That project was about keeping creek water out. The current proposals are about what the lake offers people on the bank: a dock that more visitors can use and aeration for the water. In the city's own list, "lake improvements" sit right beside "access and connectivity," and the trail runs along the shoreline, so changes to one will likely affect the other.
Mayor Keith Widaman explained the reasoning when the board voted:
"That's going to continue to improve the quality of life for residents by improving the quality of the parks which are widely used by our residents and some people from the local area. It's an important part of our community."
The Fields Are Part of the Plan Too
"Programming opportunities" is also on SWT's list, and BaratHaven already has a full schedule of organized sports. The city lists three fields at the park for soccer, football or lacrosse and one cricket field, and its athletic fields can be rented for organized sports.
The cricket pitch has a longer history than many neighbors may know. Mid Rivers has identified the American Cricket Academy and Club of St. Louis, known as ACAC, as the field's home organization. The paper has reported on the club's women's, men's and minor-kids leagues and noted that the city first funded the pitch in 2016. St. Louis Public Radio covered the academy's dedicated field when it opened in 2017. For one national youth tournament, Mid Rivers reported that 22 teams from the U.S. and Canada played matches at BaratHaven and ACAC Park, and a Dardenne Prairie ACAC team won.
That history is why a shelter or pavilion near the lake is worth weighing alongside the fields. Plenty of people come for an event, and they use the same parking, paths and shade as people who come to walk the loop.
The park's mix of mowed and unmowed ground is planned. The city's maintenance guide describes BaratHaven as practice fields, walking trails and native landscape. Fields are mowed weekly in the growing season, a safety strip beside the trail is mowed weekly, and the natural areas are brush-hogged about once a year. Any new amenity in the plan will have to fit into that maintenance routine.
Bluebird Meadow and the Missing Mile
"Connectivity" is the part of the plan that reaches beyond BaratHaven's edges. Mid Rivers has described Bluebird Meadow as tying into the Dardenne Greenway at BaratHaven. Bluebird Meadow Park is at 1668 Henning Road. It covers 74 acres, with 1.5 miles of trails, a soccer field and what the city calls "Prairie In Progress."
That prairie has been building for years. According to a Great Rivers Greenway account, 34 acres of former sod farm were turned into native wildflower prairie and Dardenne Creek floodplain. Native grasses and sedges were seeded in 2017, 25 species of prairie wildflowers were added in 2018, and a prescribed burn followed in February 2020. The city's maintenance guide says the tall grasses and native plants are meant to stay tall through the growing season.
To the west, Bluebird hits a dead end. Great Rivers Greenway says the meadow is cut off from the rest of the Dardenne Greenway. The City of O'Fallon, St. Charles County and Great Rivers Greenway plan a new section running one mile west from Bluebird Meadow, through O'Fallon Sports Park, to the Highway K shared-use path. It is one of nine priorities in the St. Charles County Greenway Master Plan and a step toward closing the gap between Bluebird Meadow and Highway N in Cottleville. Mid Rivers reported that the plans include a bridge across Dardenne Creek.
As of Great Rivers Greenway's Sept. 9, 2026 update, the segment has a federal Transportation Alternatives Program grant, with construction money available in fall 2026. Design plans are still being finished, and construction is "anticipated to begin later in 2026." Put the two projects together and BaratHaven's access question gets bigger. If the western link is built, the lake loop could become a stop on a longer route through O'Fallon, and the entrances, trail connections and any new pavilion should be planned with that in mind.
The October Calendar Around the Open House
The September 26 Prairie Day, held at 2032 Hanley Road, was the first chance to give input, with SWT running a tent there. The next one is the main event, and the city has a few other things on the calendar around it:
- Thursday, Oct. 8, 7:15 p.m.: Thursday Night Football in the Park, according to the city calendar
- Tuesday, Oct. 13, 5 to 7 p.m.: BaratHaven Park master plan open house at Dardenne Prairie City Hall
- Thursday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m.: St. Charles County Historical Society, Dardenne Prairie, on the city calendar
- Friday, Nov. 6: The city's free monthly first-Friday Bingo. Doors open at 10:30 a.m., lunch is at 11 a.m., and Bingo starts at noon
City Hall Park, next to where the open house will be held, has its own project. At the same Sept. 16 meeting, the board approved up to $30,000 to replace playground equipment that an inspection found had reached the end of its life span. The city also plans to replace the pour-in-place surfacing. Michel said the park will close for about a week once the equipment arrives, so crews can make the repairs and then start the surfacing work.
If you go to City Hall on October 13, bring specific requests. Tell SWT where a fishing dock would actually get used, which stretch of trail floods or needs work, where shade is missing on game days, and how you'd like to get from the lake to Bluebird Meadow and on toward O'Fallon. The city's $25,000 this fiscal year will cover only a few items. The $410,000 recommendation for FY2027 is the money the open house can still influence.
At Bliss Homes, we keep track of park projects like BaratHaven's because shoreline paths, trail links and new pavilions are part of how a Dardenne Prairie address feels day to day. If you'd like to know how nearby park improvements may factor into your home's value, start with our Instant Home Valuation, and we'll talk through the details with you.
