Jere McElhaney’s been talking about cleaning up Wells Overlook Park for more than a year now, and the effort already is starting to pay off.

The Douglas County commissioner’s public crusade for the park’s survival has triggered an unexpected shift in the way the public cares for the 17-acre site — moves that have helped curtail persistent problems with trash, vandalism and untoward loitering.

“There’ve been stepped up sheriff’s patrols,” McElhaney said. “The park has been kept cleaner because of more public awareness. We’ve had more visitors up to the park.

“We’ve gotten the word out about the park, and it’s more or less policed itself.”

But the effort is far from finished.

Since January of last year, McElhaney has been leading the charge to overhaul the county-owned park that occupies a hill southeast of U.S. Highway 59 and County Road 458 south of Lawrence.

McElhaney’s plan is to “reclaim” the park’s natural, prairie condition by clearing trees and brush from an 8-acre section of the park. All but a handful of walnut and other hardwood trees are targeted for removal, to be replaced by native prairie grasses.

McElhaney is lining up an army of volunteers to help with the work, led by a Wells Overlook Restoration Committee whose members include landscape architects, representatives of environmental groups and others interested in the park’s future.

“We’re putting the natural area back,” said C.L. Maurer, a landscape architect for Landplan Engineering, a Lawrence-based firm that is donating its services for the project. “It’s preservation, going back to the way the land was before.”

To get there, project plans call for several changes during the next several years:

• Remove trees and burn off the underbrush, clearing the way for planting of prairie grass seeds gathered by volunteers.
• Repair and upgrade the park’s existing sand box, known as a “tot lot.” An existing shelter and picnic tables also would remain.
• Clear, by hand, four trails to weave throughout the park, including the new prairie areas and remaining trees.
• Create a circular “vehicle turnaround” at the end of the park’s existing 40-space parking lot, and install an accessible ramp connecting the lot and park area.

“It’ll provide better visibility,” Maurer said. “The thinking goes that it will help keep some of the maintenance (costs) and vandalism down.”

The park, open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, was donated to the county in 1971. Ken Lassman, whose grandfather donated the property, serves on the restoration committee.

Soon after McElhaney formed his committee, dozens of people from all over the county had volunteered to help out with such tasks as clearing brush, picking up trash, cutting firewood and painting playground equipment. Last summer a group from Heartland Community Church helped clear a few trees, but that work was suspended until a plan could be put in place.

McElhaney expects more work to begin this spring. He’s lined up a few area contractors to lend a hand with their large construction equipment, figuring that a few hours with bulldozers and bucket trucks could eliminate the need for weeks and months of back-breaking individual labor.

“We don’t want volunteers up there getting hurt, or in accidents or miscues,” McElhaney said. “I’m impatient. I wish I could snap my fingers and bring contractors in and have it all done in five weeks, but I’ve learned a lot. We won’t get it done overnight.”

His prediction: In two years the park will have a new look and a fresh start to serve county residents and visitors for decades to come.

“Now that the awareness of the park is there, it’s become more of an attraction,” he said. “It’s cleaner and safer, and it’s getting more and more use now.

“Once we get it to the final stage, it will be a very attractive place and it will be used a lot. It will be a gem of Douglas County.”