Parks Will Receive Improvements From ‘99 Bond Issue Comstock, Liberty, Manito To Benefit From $15 Million Measure Ok’D By Voters

Several South Side parks will be among the first to get their share of a $15 million parks bond passed by voters last September.

Work on the outdoor pools at Comstock Park and Liberty Park are expected to begin in the next several weeks and be completed by swimming season in June.

At the same time, planning is under way for Manito Park and for tennis courts at Comstock and Liberty parks.

Improvements at Manito Park will follow a master plan adopted in 1985.

David Evans and Associates of Spokane was chosen as a consultant for designing the Manito work.

Tekoa Street, which runs north and south from the Manito duck pond past the Ferris Perennial Gardens, will be closed to through traffic near the duck pond.

The idea is to prevent commuters from using the park as a shortcut around busy South Hill arterials.

Another access road south of the duck pond could be closed and replaced with lawn.

New parking areas are envisioned for the main entrance near the duck pond and the turnaround created from the closure of Tekoa, said James W. Gibson, a retired Air Force civil engineer hired to manage the bond issue.

Renovation of the Gaiser Conservatory greenhouse would be included in a second phase of work in 2001.

Also at Manito Park, a cinder path could be extended to the west end of the duck pond, depending on available funds.

New pavement would replace cracked and broken asphalt.

Marion Severud of the park staff said she will set up a public meeting on the Manito Park improvements sometime this spring, after the Evans group finishes its initial drawings.

Evans also is designing a new competitive tennis court at Comstock Park and repairs to the tennis court at Grant Park. A retaining wall that supports the Grant Park tennis court must be strengthened, parks officials said.

Repaving at Riverfront Park also was included under the Evans contract.

Two new neighborhood parks are being developed - at 17th and D Street in Albion Heights and at 44th and Havana in the Ben Burr area.

Parks officials have worked with residents in both areas on plans for the new parks. In recent years, neighbors in both areas started developing the parks through their own fund raising.

Now, bond issue money is being used to finish the work.

Twenty-seven neighborhood parks are receiving new playground equipment over the next two years. The work will be done alphabetically, with Audubon through Heath parks getting the equipment this year. The others will be completed in 2001.

Gibson said neighborhood councils were asked to choose which equipment they wanted from products available through several companies.

“We are going to buy the equipment they ask for,” he said.