It’s official — Sedona City Council approved proposed plans Aug. 14 to build the long-awaited Barbara Antonsen Memorial Park at Posse Grounds Park.

It’s official — Sedona City Council approved proposed plans Aug. 14 to build the long-awaited Barbara Antonsen Memorial Park at Posse Grounds Park.

Previous proposals for the park were criticized for high costs, which may have exceeded $1 million. The approved plans will cost considerably less — an estimated $600,000.

Courtesy Illustration

The two-acre park, commemorating the late Barbara Antonsen’s efforts to preserve approximately nine acres of Posse Grounds for public use, will provide a new venue for local and regional artists to perform.

For more than five years, Friends of the Posse Grounds, lead by President Madeleine O’Callaghan, have worked to develop plans for the park — plans that will finally come to fruition, as soon as they raise the money to begin construction.

Among other changes, the new design eliminates the need for

steel, opting for less expensive concrete materials.

The concrete, actually called ShotCrete, can be pre-colored to blend in with the surroundings, according to O’Callaghan.

It’s too early to say for sure, but O’Callaghan said she expects the structure will be colored to match the red rocks.

The new plans also incorporate environmentally sustainable design concepts while providing shade for up to 300 spectators and protection from wind, rain and sun for the performers.

New acoustical containment measures will guarantee better sound for the audience and performers while reducing the amount of sound leaking into surrounding neighborhoods.

The performance shell will be “pleasing to the eye, integrated with its surroundings, as well as functional and pleasing to use,” according to a Friends of the Posse Grounds press release.

“Everyone was pleased with the performance shell design we discovered,” O’Callaghan said.

No one on City Council stood in opposition to the proposal.

Council members only asked questions, such as where exactly on the two-acre site the structure will be placed.

That and other questions will be answered when the Crandall Design Group, of Mesa, is hired to begin building, O’Callaghan said.

So far, the Friends have raised at least one-third of the $600,000 goal, according to O’Callaghan.

Tlaquepaque arts and crafts village, ILX Resorts, Yavapai County and numerous other businesses and individuals are among those who have donated to the project thus far.

“It’s been such a fulfilling process to make this discovery and realize that we can bring something so useful to the community,” O’Callaghan said.

“We don’t have a community park for entertainment and this may be the one,” Friends of the Posse Grounds volunteer Jim Bishop Jr. said.

Tyler Midkiff can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 122, or e-mail to tmidkiff@larsonnewspapers.com