Joplin’s “Dover Outdoor Recreational Area” project over budget

JOPLIN, Mo. — The Joplin Council learns one of the city's major projects is currently nearly double over its budget.

During a presentation at Monday night’s council meeting (12/16), the Dover Outdoor Recreational Area, also known as "DORA," showed an estimated budget shortfall of just over $3 million dollars. The project's original estimate was $3.7 million. But, with increases in construction costs, the latest cost estimate is $6.7 million.

The "DORA" outdoor recreation area is located near Dover Hill Elementary. It consists of 95-acres that once housed soccer fields, with plans to become 10 miles of mountain bike trails.

At Monday night’s council meeting, several people spoke in support of the Dover Outdoor Recreational Area, including Joplin businessman, John Hunter.

"There are so many people that are interested in this project. I think whenever it was first talked about — what people want to see in a park system in Joplin — the number two ranked thing just over general beautification, the number two ranked things were trails and a bike park, which is what's planned for DORA. We know there's a big demand for it, but then also the amount of folks that showed up here to support it, or wrote letters of support is huge,” said American Ramp Company CEO, John Hunter.

The city's finance director says a possible solution would be to shift some of the ARPA dollars from other projects. That is still in the works, though, as the project has already been approved by the council.

The city hopes construction on “DORA” can start later next year.