The City of Ketchum is closing in on its fundraising campaign to preserve the Warm Springs property.
Now, new incentives are driving the price of the initiative down.
City officials and community members launched a $10 million campaign in August to buy the 65-acre Warm Springs property on the west side of Ketchum.
Most of that money would pay for the land, while $1 million would cover irrigation upgrades.
The area has been used as a dog park and nature preserve since a golf course on the property shut down several years ago.
The effort has raised $4.6 million so far, and now, a backer of the fundraiser has promised to match $1 million in donations raised from now until the end of the year.
Should that happen, the current owner of the Warm Springs Preserve will also lower the price of the land to $8 million, according to a newsletter from Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw.
If the campaign doesn’t hit that year-end goal, it still has until April 28, 2022 before the agreement expires.
City officials plan to keep the dog park as part of the nature preserve if they can purchase the property.
They also hope to upgrade trails, restore the floodplain around the creek and ban future development there.
A public restroom, as well as Nordic skiing and snowshoeing trails would be installed as well.
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