Benny Westcott
The Linn County Parks & Recreation Department has released two design concepts as part of a master plan to improve Lewis Creek County Park.
These changes aim to improve restroom and parking infrastructure, enable universal access to water recreation, and incorporate additional site amenities such as a food truck plaza, playground and terraced seating along the water, according to Linn County Parks Director Brian Carroll.
The county seeks public feedback on the concepts through an online survey at bit.ly/3AloFWf through July 19.
Anyone with ideas that aren’t included will have the opportunity to comment on that, as well.
Participants providing their names and contact information will be entered into a drawing for a free night’s camping or a Lewis Creek season pass.
Carroll said the county has been working on the master plan since the beginning of the year.
“We had meetings earlier in the year with a lot of folks and solicited some survey comments via the internet to find out what changes people want,” he said. “So these design concepts are basically what came out of that public input.”
The designs are available for viewing at Lewis Creek Park and at the Sweet Home Farmers Market. Carroll emphasized that they’re not an “either/or thing. They can be mixed and matched.”
The concepts’ main differences involve the locations of such amenities as the playground and concessionaires, plus the size and scope of the beach and terraced area along the waterfront.
Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning of Eugene assembled the master plans.
Carroll explained why the county is focusing on renovating Lewis Creek Park.
“One of the reasons is because it is one of the older parks in the county system,” he said. “It’s 50 years old. It’s seen some waterfront and dock improvements, but, really, the main infrastructure and layout of the park has not changed much in 50 years, while the use of the park has dramatically changed in the last 10-15 years, in the volume of people and their uses of the park.”
He added that the restrooms don’t meet current access standards, the water and septic systems are old, and the park’s power grid is substandard.
Noting the project’s timetable, Carroll said, “I’d love to say that we’d get the improvements done in the next five years, but we’ll have to go after grant funds, and those are competitive. We’ll compete against other government agencies to help make these changes.”
“That’s part of the reason that we wanted to work with someone like Cameron McCarthy, to make sure that we did it right, so when we go after the competitive grant funds, we stand a good chance of getting funded,” he added.
He also noted that “these projects are quite large and can be expensive to do, so we usually try to do them in phases. And Lewis Creek will probably be the same.”
To put in your input, visit: bit.ly/3AloFWf