New park nears completion

Nets dangle from basketball hoops over pristine concrete. Newly planted trees are rooted in the ground and bright yellow paint lines the new parking lot.

The first phase of Rocky Hill Park is complete – but please don’t walk on the newly seeded grass.

Liberty Lake’s newest park at Winrock Street and Mission Avenue is as done as it will get this year. The basketball court will be painted in the spring and playground equipment will be installed in the spring after the grass has had a chance to get established.

The park was originally slated to be done at the end of September, but the project was delayed. “That was because of the change order,” said city engineer Andrew Staples. “There were frontage improvements that were put in.” The city added a curb, planting strip and sidewalks on Mission to the project.

In addition to the obvious amenities, the new park can also be used as a soccer field – but don’t expect to find lines painted on the ground. It’s not an official sports field. “It’s open and flat enough that it’s very well suited for practice,” said Mayor Wendy Van Orman.

The city is trying something new with the grassy areas. Moisture sensors have been installed with the irrigation system so the sprinklers will shut off automatically when the ground is saturated. Normal sprinklers on timers still go off when it is raining, so adding the sensor should help conserve water.

While some amenities were added to the project, others were taken off. Plans originally called for a fence, trail system and play fort on a natural rocky knob in the park, but the city changed its mind. “We wanted to leave it natural,” Van Orman said.

The city hopes to complete phase two of the park next year. It would include restrooms, two tennis courts, a “vast” trail system, bocce ball courts and another play structure on the remaining seven acres. The city has applied for a $500,000 state grant for the project and is hopeful it will receive it in June. “We’re ninth on the list out of 76,” said Van Orman. “They’ve pretty much told us that predominantly they take the first 15. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

If the city receives the grant, it will have to provide $350,000 in matching funds. The mayor has built that amount into her proposed budget that will be debated by the City Council in November.

The mayor also plans to move ahead with construction of the hardscape of the arboretum next year, which includes paths, as well as the construction of a skate park in Pavillion Park that has received grants from the state and county.