The Gail and Carolyn Shaw Aquatic Center is the finest jewel of the Chehalis park system, but the now the Chehalis City Council wants Recreation Park to match its luster.
“We’re trying to capture the enthusiasm around the pool and put into upgrading the park,” Councilor Terry Harris said.
A few months ago, the council directed city staff to explore what it would take to turn Recreation Park into a “first class facility.”
Before that happens, city staff must first figure out what that means.
A few major elements city staff members are looking at include fixing drainage issues and adding parking on the north side of the park and upgrading the Fred Hess Kitchen, or replacing it all together.
A bigger issue the city is grappling with is replacing the equipment at Penny Playground.
The playground equipment was purchased 22 years ago with a projected lifespan of 20 years. The wood it’s built from has significant dry rot issues and was treated with toxic chemicals that can be hazardous if transdermally absorbed.
The parks department has been sealing the wood with linseed oil, but the issues persist.
Chehalis Community Development Director Dennis Osborn said its so old the manufacturer doesn’t make replacement parts for it any more. Additionally, the equipment doesn’t meet the standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Although Washington hasn’t adopted the commission’s guidelines, other states have, and many groups are pressing Washington to do the same.
With all those possible upgrades and changes, it might even make sense to change the layout of the park, or perhaps not.
“As you look at different components of that, you see other issues and you see how those components are related,” Osborn said. “Do we move the playground or the picnic shelters? Again, lots of questions without answers.”
Osborn said planning is still in the early stages, but the city has had some preliminary design work done for parking and drainage improvements, and is in the process of assigning a project manager.
Public comments will play a big role in what the park will look like in the future.
City staff plans to create a menu of possible upgrades and improvements that they will later present to the council.
At a council meeting on April 13, several councilors expressed their desire to turn Recreation Park into a great facility, but they just wanted to know what their options are.
The philosophical question before them will likely be — does it make more sense to spend the money and fix everything that needs fixing in one fell swoop, or is a piecemeal approach more sensible?
Councilor Harris said he believes the project is important, and that there should be a lot of community involvement with the park’s development.
Council Daryl Lund agreed.
“When has Chehalis not done that? Just look at the Gail and Carolyn Shaw Aquatics Center, the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library and the Lintott-Alexander Park,” he said.
Funding sources won’t be identified until the project advances, but preliminary figures suggest it could be upwards of $2 million.
“I think the city has the bonding capacity to take the project on outright,” Osborne said. “I think that’s why council wants to see the different menu options. There are so many moving components. Once we present those to council they may say, ‘let’s do one, two and three’ rather than choosing all the options.”
When asked if upgrading a city park is the best use of city resources, considering some of the city’s infrastructure is in poor condition, Osborne said there are funds to address those issues already designated in the budget.
“Water and sewer systems have their own accounts, as opposed to a general fund item which is a park, those funds are all separate,” he said. “It all depends. I think the general consensus is we want to fix X, Y, Z , but there’s different accounting practices for those.”
