Lakeside Park in Chelan awarded renovation grant

CHELAN—Lakeside Park, the 10-acre site at 2230 Terrace Avenue, will soon undergo a facelift thanks to a federal grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) awaiting final official approval this year. City Parks and Recreation Director Paul Horne delivered the news to the city council's regular bi-monthly meeting on April 9.

The process started in 2020 with several grant applications, with one accepted by LWCF in 2021. 

“LWCF switched (grant) its parameters the year we were awarded it,” said Horne. “Luckily the state RCO (Recreation and Conservation Office) is doing the federal interface and making sure our project is checking all the boxes.”

Then, the pandemic got in the way.

Jason Henry of the Berger Partnership explained that because of the pandemic, all the grant applicants were offered an additional $100,000 to cover escalation costs, which also changed the scope of the park renovation items.

“It includes many of the original things we were trying to do…the renovated restroom, upgrading the playground, updating the beach and swim area,” said Henry. “We also took the opportunity to upgrade the dock…

The grant proposal will allow the city to move from design to construction, which is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025.

“The dock replacement is the biggest change we’ve been working on,” said Henry. “We’ve been working with Chelan Dock Company on getting some updated estimates for replacing the whole T-dock.”

Horne asked Henry for details on the restroom renovation. Henry explained that after a 2018 grant application to replace the entire restroom was denied because of the costs, Berger took a more economical approach to keep the building shell and concentrate on remodeling the interior.

“The basic structure will remain the same,” said Henry. “Using the same basic floor plans we are able to increase the number of stalls but also provide two ADA stalls.”

The new configuration will double the number of stalls, move sink washing outside, improve safety and visibility, and more.

All in all, I think I think it’s a huge win for the amount of service the restroom can provide,” said Henry, “and getting rid of the port-a-potties that have been outside during the summer for quite a while now.”

Horne said the overall budget for the project is $1.2 million, $700,000 from the state with a $700,000 city match.

Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media