| Trackable Options |
Found this item? Log in. |
Printable information sheet to attach to (KB001) Kordiak County Park
Print Info Sheet |
| There are 2 users watching this listing. |
Kordiak County
Park
Albert A. Kordiak Park
Kordiak County Park is a 30-acre
wooded area at 49th Avenue and Innsbruck Parkway. The area was
known as Peck's Lake and Peck's Woods. In the late 1950's, Anoka
County did not have a park system. Anoka County Commissioner Albert
Kordiak asked the county board to acquire the Peck's Woods area for
a park, but it had already been sold to a developer. The land had
been platted for residential lots. The value of the land was
estimated at $1000 an acre, and the county board approved $18000,
for the purchase of 18 acres. The developer was reluctant to sell.
After repeated requests, refusals, suits and counter-suits, a deal
was struck. The developer would donate the land for a park if the
county would build Innsbruck Parkway around it. That project cost
$18000 and Anoka County got its first park in 1959.
Albert Kordiak and his father, George, went to the park in George's
car, took a lawn-mower out of the trunk, and mowed the grass around
several trees. They built a picnic table, and that was Anoka
County's first park. They also transplanted many elm trees from
George's back yard.
After many letters and appeals to military installations, Kordiak
acquired a World Was I artillery
piece as part of the park equipment. Another landmark in the park
is a huge stone with the word "courthouse"
on it. When the old courthouse was taken down, Kordiak asked for
the large stone and had it brought to Anoka County Park.
Albert and George worked nights, mixing cement and building the
monument surrounding the rock. Residents passed around a petition
to have the park re-named for Albert Kordiak and that request was
honored by the Anoka County Board.
Located in
Columbia Heights, Kordiak County Park can be accessed from the
intersection of Highway 65 (Central Avenue) and 49th Avenue - then
follow 49th Avenue east for two miles to the parking lot on the
north side of 49th Avenue.
The posted hours are 6:00am until 30 minutes past sunset. There
are a few swings, a lot of grills, a fire pit, electricity, and a
really nice pavillion. There are paved paths around Highland Lake
(I think it's a swamp !), and dirt paths through the various
wooded sections.
I received this info, from Jim Kordiak, son of
Albert:
-I have never seen a park photo of dad and George. I don't think
you will find one.
-The park road exchange is accurate. The road was to be concrete
which is more expensive especially in those days but it added
prestige to the developers project.
-Al did little physical work on the project. George and Dave
Torkildson the new Parks Director did much of the labor.
-There is little evidence of Elm in the park. If grandpa
transplanted trees they must have been oak.
-The lake has been Highland Lake for as long as I can remember.
Pecks woods commonly refers to the area at and north of 694 but
time has a way of distorting memory.
Much else in the history is accurate.
Click for
forecast