Centralia Rotary gave 4.5 acres of Rotary Riverside Park to the city back in 1983. Now, 35 years later, the Rotary is working on giving the entire 14-acre park a major $1.5 million renovation. The goal is to bring new life into the park with a focus on creating a meaningful space for all.
Centralia Rotary President Julie Shaffley can hardly contain her excitement as she begins to explain the project. This is her “president’s project” for her one-year term. “I really wanted to do something for the community,” she shares, adding that all the credit really should go to John Elmore, Centralia Rotary president elect for 2018-2019, a past city council member and current Rotarian. He brought the idea of the park to her because city budget constraints haven’t managed to maintain it in recent years. “Because Rotary’s name is on it, we decided we wanted to do something that would really make an impact,” Julie explains. “This is a great way to give back to the community while honoring the Rotarians who worked so hard to make it a park.”
The park is in a great location and has lovely “bones,” it just needs to be updated. “Because Borst Park and the Sports Hub have become so popular, this is kind of a forgotten child,” explains John. “So we decided to update it, but with unique features that gives it its own identity, different from Borst.”
The updates are planned for completion in 2020, which is Centralia Rotary’s Centennial anniversary. The new park will feature:
- Two new park entrance signs
- New skateboard park
- New soccer field
- New bocce ball court
- Two new basketball courts
- New picnic and kitchen shelter
- New curbs and sidewalks
- Solar panels for lighting the park
- Newly designated parking area
A Park for All
Their overarching theme for the new Rotary Riverside Park is “a park for all.” This means creating a space that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. The idea came to John while on the city council. He noticed two things our city was really lacking:
- Outdoor spaces that were accessible to people with limited mobility
- Early childhood education preparedness opportunities
“Only four out of 10 children who enter kindergarten are actually prepared to enter kindergarten,” says John.
To address these issues, the park is going to have several special features.
To address early childhood education, Julie and John have some amazing ideas in the works. The back pathway is going to have learning stations, they explain. It’s going to be like a children’s museum, with things that will stimulate their learning such as nature exploration – botany, butterflies, etc. – colors and cultural issues. And even better, it’s all outdoors.
The entire park will be wheelchair accessible, including the skate park. The skate part will be completely renovated based on a gorgeous model in Provo, Utah that Emil Pierson, community development director for Centralia, had seen. It is so aesthetically appealing, it looks more like a piece of art than a skate park. The wooden pieces will be replaced with materials that are more suited to our wet climate. And, a low profile means users are visible at all times for safety.
The soccer fields can shrink to fit any age user and the basketball courts will also be set up for wheelchair field hockey use. Each area is designed for multi-use as much as possible. They are also structured to accommodate mixed age groups. “We are putting the bocce ball field right by the skate park so that older people can play next to where the young kids are hanging out,” says John. “So we can integrate age groups instead of segregating them.”
Both the Centralia Park and Recreation board and the Centralia City Council unanimously approved the Rotary’s plan for the park.
A True Community Project
The Rotary is getting as many local groups involved in the process as they can. After all, the park is for all of us and they want it to be local. So, they went to Centralia College for projects pertaining to the renovations.
The two entrance signs are going to be the result of a design competition within the art and welding departments at the college. Students will be presenting their designs early this spring. The designs will be judged and the winning groups will make them by this summer. The welding department will make the lampposts, which can be sponsored by businesses.
They are hoping to have the Chehalis tribe carve totems out of some of the large trees that need to be removed, as additional educational elements. Signs with information about the totems and even Chehalis language will be included. Any other removed trees will be used to construct the shelters.
There are plans for fundraising events down the road. Currently, if you purchase Debbie Schinnell’s cookbook Come Hungry! from Gifted or Good Health Nutrition, $10 goes to the Rotary Riverside Park project.
If you would like to get involved, you can email Julie Shaffley at shaffleyj@gmail.com for sponsorship and volunteer opportunities. In addition, everyone is invited to the Centralia Rotary weekly meeting at O’Blarney’s every Tuesday at 12:00 p.m.
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