City, Rotary Club working to improve downtown park

Published 12:31 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

By Kevin Hanson

The Courier-Herald

A rather unattractive piece of downtown real estate is the focus of an extreme makeover, courtesy of a partnership between the city of Enumclaw and the local Rotary Club.

Town Center Park has sat at the corner of Griffin Avenue and Railroad Street, one of the more visible intersections in the downtown core. It has hardly been a favored destination, however, home to only a lonely gazebo and a lot full of asphalt cracked and crumbled by the roots of a few scattered trees.

But all that is changing.

Crews have removed the trees and scraped away the asphalt, leaving bare soil. Topsoil will be brought it, then the corner lot will be turned green, either by grass seed or the more immediate result of sod. The result will be a more aesthetically pleasing, user friendly downtown park.

The local Rotary Club has donated $5,000 toward the park renovation and club members will provide labor to help with the transformation. Also, club members with business connections have contributed to the effort, according to John Keates, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

Rotary members adopted the project as a way to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the worldwide organization.

In keeping with that theme, the downtown park will be renamed Rotary Centennial Park.

Keates said work should be completed prior to the annual, downtown Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race, which is planned for May 21-22.

Kevin Hanson can be reached at khanson@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.