Transforming Symphony Woods from a little-used downtown Columbia park into an attraction for naturalists, walkers and picnickers would cost the Columbia Association $600,000, according to a landscape design firm's preliminary estimate.
The Columbia Council plans to include about $367,000 for the first phase of the project in next year's capital budget for the nonprofit Columbia Association, which manages the community's parklands and recreational facilities.
Council members say they like Columbia-based LDR International's plan to build a path looping the 38-acre park and linking its diverse areas, dredge and spruce up a pond, construct a more formal entrance and "pedestrian plaza," and place a boardwalk over environmentally sensitive areas.
"The price tag is a big one, but on the other hand it's kind of a Central Park area," said Councilman Chuck Rees of Kings Contrivance village. "It's worth doing something there to open it up for more people while keeping it by and large the way it is."
Columbia Association President Padraic M. Kennedy presented the estimate to the council at Thursday night's meeting.
Councilman Roy T. Lyons of Long Reach village said the plan seems well thought out, but wants any improvements to be accessible to the disabled.
He said the project's not necessary but would improve Columbia life. Mr. Lyons said its merits depend on whether residents want to bear the costs.
Symphony Woods, which surrounds the 12-acre Merriweather Post Pavilion, is in Town Center, bordered by Little Patuxent and Broken Land parkways and South Entrance Road.
Symphony of Lights, a holiday lighting display to raise money for Howard County General Hospital, is taking place in Symphony Woods through Jan. 1. The park also has been the site of the county recreation department's "Wine in the Woods" event the past two years.
The council hasn't scheduled a public hearing on the Symphony Woods proposal, but residents can comment at the fiscal year 1996 budget hearing Jan. 31 at Kahler Hall in Harpers Choice village.
The council also debated rules Thursday for its new nonbinding referendum provision, but couldn't agree on details. Once rules are ironed out, the nonbinding referendum, or advisory vote, could be called by residents through a petition or by the council. The vote would be intended to give the council direction on Columbia Association policy matters.
The council is debating how much authority and independence to give the Advisory Vote Committee, the citizens body that would administer referendums. It also is trying to determine parameters for issues subject to referendum.