Ephrata sees final park designs

EPHRATA — Ephrata residents saw the final designs for what parks will look like.

Landscape architecture firm, The Berger Partnership, was hired by the city to create a master plan for the parks. This came after a 2007 survey showed residents wanted improvements.

Greg Brower, a principal with the firm, said they looked for what makes each of the parks unique as part of the public input process.

“We were asked by (Recreation Director Ray Towry) and the interview committee, ‘Would we do all six parks at the same time and why would we do that?’” he said. “Our observation was, ‘Yes, we should do them all at the same time because that way we can look at and make sure we are spreading out over all of them rather than concentrating all in one place.’”

Oasis Park

Brower said they considered Oasis Park to be the “natural park.” It would include a redesigned section on one side of state Route 28, which would include a meadow circled by pathways. The plans also call for a new parking lot.

“Great places to put little picnic tables, so you could come on a nice day and have a picnic with the family,” said Andy Mitton, an associate with the firm. “Also an opportunity for a nature walk.”

On the other side of the highway, changes include clearing most of the side of the pond of close plants.

“We know there’s been a lot of challenges in managing cattails and there are issues with getting the fly rod caught up in the trees,” Mitton said. “About 80 percent of it is open, so you’re avoiding that conflict of casting.”

Sports Complex

Brower called the Sports Complex Ephrata’s “grand or central park.” The changes to the park would come in three stages and include relocating the skate park, creating an amphitheater and building a community center.

“Because of its size and what we talked about in the last meeting, it got very complicated to explain how this would come together,” he said.

In the first phase, the building in the center of the park would be removed and a restroom and concessions building added near the parking lot. The play area would be moved.

Amphitheater construction would start with planting trees near the hill and would include widening the alley to include more parking.

“So you can imagine pulling in, parking underneath the shade trees, while you’re waiting for a practice to end,” Brower said. 

In the second phase, the space where the Ephrata city shop building is located would become part of the park.

The skate park would be moved next to the road along with a play area and shelter.

“We’re able to move the line out,” he said. “We’re able to start accommodating a little more fields.”

Along with those changes, the amphitheater would start to become more “formalized,” Brower said.

“In phase one, you could even start to use the space for events occasionally,” he said. “In this phase … our vision of it is this idea of some low terraced walls and big grass plains between. Big enough that you can lay a blanket out on them or you can set up lawn chairs.”

The final phase would include building a community center. Brower said it’s still underdetermined what would be in the building. It will also include additional parking for the building.

“Maybe some meeting rooms, maybe some gym spaces, maybe some performance spaces … so we’ll leave it kind of open for now,” he said. “Pretty much everything else in the park is in place by the time that happens.”

Parkway

Brower called this park the “fitness” park. The changes to the park include removing the tennis courts, removing the fence in the center of the park and adding parking.

“One of the big things we did hear was that there’s a lot that can be done to organize and clean up this end of the street,” Mitton said. “So as we looked at it more, we realized we can actually get a fair amount of parking spaces in there if it was just put together a little bit better.”

The dugouts would remain and the bleachers would be expanded. Mitton said it seemed important the dugouts stay the same.

The architects also examined the fact the school used Parkway as a playground for recess, so they tried to find ways to enhance both the baseball program and the school’s use of the field, Mitton said.

“One of the first things we did was put a loop path around the outside and also started to define edges to the park,” he said. “That way there’s a little bit better way to contain kids and have more eyes on (them) to keep them from running out into the street.”

In place of the tennis courts, there would be a play area. They would also remove the fence in the park to allow the use of the field for football and to allow kids access to the entire field. They also recommended moving the lights so they’re just on the edge of the outfield.

“Then that allows the overlay of a football field,” Mitton said. “We would then improve the softball field that is in some desperate needs of some upgrades, and the minors field as well would get some attention.”

Lion’s Park

Brower said he saw this park as the “family” park. He said everyone knew something about this park since their first public input session.

“Partly because of how much play equipment is there,” he said. “It probably has everything. It has volleyball. It has play equipment. It has horseshoes. It has basketball.”

He said they tried to keep all of the same items at the park. The upper end of the park would include some more seating near the trees without removing any of them. Towards the middle, the plan calls for adding an “environmental play area,” Brower said.

“The idea there is we create a framework for play and let the kids invent what the play actually is,” he said.

The middle would also include a shelter and rest room for people picnicking and additional playground equipment. The lower end of the park would include sand volleyball courts, tennis courts and a covered sports court.

Patrick Park

Brower labeled this park the “view” park.

“One of the first things that struck us about this park, the first time we visited it, are the views,” Mitton said. “One of the things we felt important in revitalizing this is putting in some seating areas along the canal and a pathway along there, so you really can sit and enjoy that.”

The architects also recommended putting a low barrier along the edge of the canal. Mitton said there is a concern about safety because the park is on top of a berm with the canal below that.

“There was a fence lower down on the slope, but that was deemed not to be the best idea to stop you when you’re already going down the slope,” Brower said.

The barrier would likely be a combination of a rail fence and hedges, he said.

The plans call for a rest room in the middle of the park. Mitton said it creates a central core to the area.

Lee Park

Brower said Lee Park would be the “graceful” park in the system.

“It’s got these grand old trees on one side and a nice plain of lawn,” he said. “It’s very simple and doesn’t need to be overly complicated given its size.”

They placed a shelter in the park, which could be seen from the Sports Complex, he said. They also moved the play area away from the street and added a rock climbing wall. The basketball court would be moved and a path around the edge would be added.

When would it start?

When the city did its comprehensive plan last year, they planned for grant application deadlines, Towry said.

“So, 2011 is the first year we said we’re going to start construction,” he said. “Right now we have it set to do Oasis because we want to rehabilitate it to where it was prior to all the mess that’s there.”

He said the other thing is they are tourism-related parks, so tourism funds can be used to help.