Sean C. Morgan
Joe Graybill’s plan for Sankey Park is taking shape.
Sweet Home’s city engineer has new pathways painted onto the ground, and the sewer, water and power connections are in the ground ready to accept a new restroom unit due in later this month.
Almost gone is the old gravel parking lot. Instead, a new lawn is growing across most of that area. A small lot remains in front of Weddle Bridge and remains accessible for parking for now. Nearby are newly paved parking spaces.
“The concept plan for Sankey (is that) this is going to be a playground area,” said Graybill, who has been a key player in the renewal effort at the park.
The city is applying for a grant to cover the cost of new playground equipment, Graybill said.
The remaining gravel will be finished with paver stones, wrapping around the flag pole to create a plaza in front of Weddle Bridge, he said. The city paved the new spaces closer to the main entrance in November to offset the lost parking.
“You’ve gained more park,” said Brian Womack of the Public Works Department.
The space for a new concrete walkway stretches away from the parking area toward the new restrooms, which are located to the north of the existing bathrooms outside the tree canopy. That pathway will connect to another concrete path from the 14th Avenue parking area.
The pathway will be wide enough to accommodate city maintenance vehicles. Initially, the two walkways will connect near the new restrooms.
Later this year, Graybill is planning additional walkways, including a loop from the main entrance around the park to the bandstand and Girl Scout hut. The city will extend the path from the 14th Avenue parking lot to the loop on the far side of the park to the east.
“That will be the extent of the concrete paths in the first group,” he said.
Graybill is expecting the new restrooms soon, he said late last week.
“I sent off a message today. They’re expecting it on the 17th or early the next week (after that). The old bathrooms will come out after the new unit is in, hooked up and operational. I would anticipate within a week or two we’ll start demo.”
The city has recently expanded irrigation to the south side of Sankey Park, and it is planning to irrigate the northern part of the park, Graybill said. Other plans include path lighting, so “in evenings people can walk through the park.”
Longer term, pathways will be extended in switchbacks up the hill in the southern part of the park to Upper Sankey Park, Graybill said. The city is planning to install a single-unit restroom on top of the hill.
Work in Upper Sankey will include a connection to 16th Avenue and Fir Street, Graybill said.
A bridge across Ames Creek from Sankey Park to the Jim Riggs Community Center is now on hold until the third phase of the plan, Graybill said. The cost was higher than expected, so city officials will refine the plan, look at options and possibly seek grant funding.