Park property purchased in Longview Tracts

City has long-term plans to develop five-acre parcel

MOSES LAKE — Longview Tracts residents may soon have another place to play.

The east side neighborhood is one parks officials have pointed to as lacking the parks abundant in many other city neighborhoods, since it was annexed into the city limits from unincorporated Grant County a decade ago. The city is now one step closer to that park with the purchase of five acres in the neighborhood, but officials say it's too early to tell when local kids will get to climb the jungle gym.

"It is one of the last pieces of vacant ground in that area, and is an amenity that Moses Lake needs," said Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski, pointing out residents now have to cross either a highway or a major street to get to play in other nearby parks.

The city council on July 11 gave authorization to purchase the five-acre parcel for approximately $142,000. The deal is expected to close in the next 30-45 days, Gavinski said.

The park is the latest in a line of neighborhood parks to be in development at the city. But Parks and Recreation director Spencer Grigg said it is too soon after the purchase to determine when improvements will be made. At least three other park projects are in line for first-phases development, the planting of grass and sprinklers, above the new Longview Tracts project.

"Three we hope to get to in the next 12 months," Grigg said.

Neighborhood parks in the lower Peninsula, Yonezawa Boulevard and Paxson Drive neighborhoods are also in the planning stages. The only one of those parcels with a name so far is Dano Park, in the Paxson Drive neighborhood.

The city is also searching for available land in other neighborhoods, to try and fulfill the park deficiencies listed in citywide plans with both mini and neighborhood parks. A mini park is classified between one-quarter acre and one acre while a neighborhood park is classified as a parcel greater than five acres.

The Longview Tracts property is long and thin, approximately 150 feet wide and 1,500 foot long, leading Grigg to draw a draft conceptual plan for the council of what the complete park facility conceivably could hold. Preliminary proposals include a 3,500-foot linear foot running track, two soccer fields, a playground, rest room, volleyball courts, basketball court, and room for 40 parking spots. Grigg said full development of the park would be done as soon as time and budgets allow.

Gavinski noted the addition of amenities like basketball courts and rest rooms would be done in phases, adding there is a need for development at all of the city's park projects.

The project is also one of many planned for the Longview Tracts area. The neighborhood was initially annexed into the city for the city to provide needed city infrastructure, the most pressing being water and sewer service, to the neighborhood.

"There has been a need for water and sewer of course, and we do have water now," Gavinski said.

The city had twice unsuccessfully applied for block grant funding to provide sewer service to the area, and Gavinski said city staff will be looking at financing options next year to add the neighborhood to the city's sewer system. In the long range, the city has plans to install city standard curbs, gutters and sidewalks into the Longview Tracts area.