The South Side SuperBlock steering committee presented its master plan at today’s Polk County Board of Supervisors meeting. The plan, which also was presented to the Des Moines City Council on March 10, estimates that implementing the proposals could cost $60 million, and would require funding from the Blank Park Zoo Foundation, city and county governments and private donations.

The plans include:

• Expanding the zoo to more than 90 acres from 22 acres, using land from Fort Des Moines Park and A.H. Blank Golf Course and creating an entrance access from Army Post Road;
• Interconnecting facilities with about eight miles of trails;
• Creating a buffer zone between the Somerset neighborhood and the zoo expansion, possibly with a trail and vegetation;
• Establishing a city park on the parade grounds;
• Building an aquatic center off of Army Post Road near the zoo;
• Encouraging a new hotel and indoor water park along Army Post Road;
• Creating a city park for winter sports south of Southridge Mall.

The first phase would begin this year and involve fund raising, setting up a tax increment financing district for the area and beginning to relocate part of the A.H. Blank Park Golf Course to a portion of Des Moines Independent Community School District’s land and implementing other land exchanges. The plan includes four phases, which would likely extend beyond the next five years.

Though the supervisors gave approval for the plan and financial support to a certain extent, Supervisor Tom Hockensmith expressed concern over whether the 5th Judicial District would agree to relocate one of its facilities from the “superblock.”

The Des Moines Plan and Zoning Commission will hear a presentation of the plan tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. before the public meeting at 6 p.m. Some of the next steps will be to nail down funding estimates and approval for the proposals.