"I definitely want to ensure that everybody who is sitting here votes 'Yes' that they like the way this building looks before we build it."
Mayor Jim Kramer said that at the Crestwood City Commission's July 8 meeting. That night the commission voted unanimously to hire Encompass Develop Design & Construct to design a new plaza on the northeast corner of The Maples Park. The building he meant hasn't been drawn in final form yet. Much of the work around it is already finished, and some of it is still being installed. City hall sits inside the park. Fiber is going in so the whole park can have Wi-Fi. The city has bought a former armory on Railroad Avenue and removed an ice machine and concrete bollards next to it. This month's events are spread across the barn, the amphitheater and the back gate.
Taken together, The Maples Park is turning into Crestwood's civic center. October is a good month to see it, because the park is busy and the construction hasn't started.
Three October events, three corners of one park
On the Oldham County and city calendars, every October event at The Maples Park uses a different part of the grounds.
- Halloweenie Walk, Sunday, October 11, 12:30 to 3 p.m. Hounds Town Crestwood presents this free event, and Adopt Me! Bluegrass Pet Rescue is listed as the organizer. It includes pet adoptions, a vaccine clinic, treat stations and costume contests. The listing gives the park's Railroad Avenue address, 6431 Railroad Avenue.
- Open Play Café, Tuesday, October 13, 9:30 to 11 a.m. This free morning for children ages 3 and up is run by the city with the Oldham County Public Library. It takes place in the Deibel Barn at 6826 Hwy 22.
- Crestwood Jazz!, Friday, October 16, 6 to 8 p.m. The city organizes this evening at The Maples Park Amphitheater, with live jazz, food and family activities.
The addresses can be confusing. The city lists 6826 Highway 22 as the park's main address and uses it for the Deibel Barn. 6431 Railroad Avenue is the park's rear entrance. If you're bringing a dog to the Halloweenie Walk, the Railroad Avenue address puts you on the side of the park where the plaza is planned. If you want an off-leash run afterward, the city's dog park is at Peggy Baker Park. The Maples Park doesn't have one.
The Open Play Café is the event most closely tied to what's coming. A library program already meets in the barn, and the city hopes the planned plaza will become the permanent home of the library's South Oldham branch.
The splash pad's season ends this weekend. At the Sept. 9 meeting, park representative Jody Smiley reported that it would stay on until Oct. 5. The last "Sounds of Summer" concert, with the Allen Lane Band and a car show, was Sept. 18.
The infrastructure you can't see from the playground
From the farm-themed playground, the park looks the way it always has. The city lists the same core features: the sprayground, Jones Pavilion, the half-mile paved walking path, the quarter-mile mulch nature path, tree swings, the Lions Club Perch overlook, the original farm buildings including the rentable Girls Playhouse, the Dennis Deibel Barn and a Little Free Library.
Most of the recent spending has gone into things park visitors don't notice.
On Sept. 9, the commission approved a $17,136.73 contract with GEM Construction Group. The work runs fiber internet cable between the new city hall building and the amphitheater. In July the commission had already approved more than $33,000 for the conduit that holds the cable. Fiber already connects several other parts of the park. According to the Oldham Era, Commissioner Terry Weathers wanted this last section installed to close the loop, so service would continue even if one section of cable were damaged. It also makes Wi-Fi possible throughout the park.
Building access is changing in a similar way. In July the commission approved $39,554 for GEM to add card-access doors to the rest of the park's buildings, matching the system city hall already has. The new system will also work with the park gate. By September, Weathers reported the installation was 60 percent complete. The city's consulting architect, Gant Jones, said contractors hoped to begin work on the city hall roof during the first week of October. A new bench has also gone in outside city hall.
None of this is unusual for a park. A shared network across every building, a single access system for every door and Wi-Fi out to the amphitheater are what a campus needs. The plaza is meant to sit on that campus.
The Railroad Avenue corner
The plan covers the northeast corner of the park near Railroad Avenue. It calls for twin two-story commercial buildings of about 20,000 square feet each, with an outdoor plaza between them. Here is how it has moved through City Hall this year.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Jan. 14 | Encompass presents an initial layout to the commission |
| Jan. 28 | Public forum on the proposed plaza |
| March 30 | City approves buying the former Star Armory at 6415 Railroad Avenue for $612,000 |
| July 8 | Design contract with Encompass approved, up to $1 million |
| Sept. 9 | Preliminary concepts presented; site items near the armory removed |
| Oct. 14 | Next regular commission meeting, where a concept may be shown |
After the armory purchase, Pewee Valley Masonic Lodge No. 829 F&AM owns the only property in the project area that isn't city-owned. The ice machine and concrete bollards near Railroad Avenue and the old armory have already been removed to clear the way.
The budget numbers help explain the $1 million headline. Kramer said the main architecture and engineering fee is $672,000, which is 6 percent of the project's forecast $11.2 million total cost. The rest of the contract covers separate line items: up to $60,000 for civil engineering and up to $104,000 for construction administration, plus allowances of $70,000 for planning and zoning, $50,000 for renderings and $60,000 for reimbursable expenses. Project manager Joshua Gedney said each allowance could end up costing less than anticipated. Kramer explained that Kentucky law treats architecture as a professional service, so it didn't have to be bid out. Construction will be put out to bid.
The commission's plan for the space is what makes this a town center rather than a park expansion. At the Sept. 9 meeting, Kramer said the city hopes one building will house the Oldham County Public Library's South Oldham branch, and the other a family-friendly restaurant and other businesses. That would put a library, a place to eat, city hall, an amphitheater and a playground on one property.
The city's work nearby points the same way. In September, Jones reported that construction had started in the basement of Crestwood Manor beneath A Taste of Thai. He said a proposal was being prepared to clear the space under Papa Johns for a possible future tenant or an expansion of Crestwood Mercantile.
What October 14 could settle, and what it can't
The commission meets the second Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m., so the October meeting falls on Oct. 14. In September, Kramer said Encompass had presented preliminary concepts for the buildings and plaza. Once those are narrowed down, he said, a concept may be shown at the October meeting. That would be the first look at how the Railroad Avenue side of the park might appear.
Even a finished drawing would leave several questions open:
- Tenants. The library and the restaurant are what the commission hopes for. No tenant has been named.
- Zoning. Gedney said one parcel in the project area will need a zoning change. That is what the $70,000 allowance pays for.
- Construction bids. Construction will go out to bid after the design is done. No groundbreaking or opening date has been announced.
- Oversight. Kramer said the city will form a subcommittee to give an update at each monthly commission meeting. Those updates are where the next steps will be made public.
After the splash pad shuts off
The next date already on the city's schedule is a waste collection event for City of Crestwood residents. Commissioner Joan Bryant reported it is planned for Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Unlike the last one, it won't accept tires.
The holiday season at the park doesn't have a date yet. Last year's Light Up The Maples Park was a city-sponsored event on Nov. 30, 2025, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., with a countdown at 6 p.m. As of early October, the city and county tourism calendars don't list any 2026 event at The Maples Park for November or December.
If you own a home near The Maples Park and wonder what a new library branch, a restaurant and a busier Railroad Avenue corner could mean for your property, The Schiller Team follows Crestwood's commission meetings closely. Request a complimentary home valuation and consultation, and we'll walk you through how the plans stand after Oct. 14.
