City Leaders Break Ground on Renovation of Lynnewood Park
City leaders led by City Councilor Trudy Jones and Chief Operations Officer Lawrence Rael today broke ground on a more than $460,000 renovation of Lynnewood Park in the northeast heights. Joined by State Representative Melanie Stansbury and Parks and Recreation Director Dave Simon, officials highlighted improvements that will include upgrading the park’s 41-year old irrigation system to increase sustainability and better care for the park’s trees, grass, and landscaping.
“Old irrigation systems leak—wasting water, costing taxpayers money, and leading to less beautiful parks. Making upgrades like this one creates a more sustainable, efficient city for our residents,” stated Mayor Keller. “Thanks to the investments from City Council and the State Legislature, we’re able to tackle these projects and make improvements to create even better City parks for kids and families.”
“Maintaining our parks and updating the aging irrigation systems continues to be one of my focuses for our parks in District 8,” said Councilor Jones. “It’s also important to make our parks accessible for all of its users so I’m very pleased to be adding sidewalks, access ramps and replacing the deteriorating concrete throughout Lynnewood Park.”
“Lynnewood Park is one of our neighborhood gems. I love this park and am thrilled to see its renovation,” said Representative Stansbury. “Our community loves and values its outdoor spaces and it is a joy to be able to support our parks with investments of State Capital Outlay in partnership with the City. These outdoor spaces are more important than ever and I know this renovation will serve generations to come.”
The primary focus of the project will be upgrading the park’s 41-year old irrigation system. The aging system is outdated and inefficient and was prone to maintenance issues. The new system will be installed with durable, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. In addition, the new controller has built-in cell phone based communication to the City’s Irrigation Central Control. From Central Control, the irrigation can be monitored, scheduled, and checked for line breaks and malfunctions.
Other upgrades including resurfacing the park’s two tennis courts and replacing the adjacent basketball court. The project will also add a sidewalk along the entire perimeter of the park, providing improved accessibility and recreational opportunities for walkers and joggers. Additionally, 33 trees will be planted as part of the landscaping improvements.
Altogether, investments in the park total $460,471, including $124,681 from Councilor Jones’ set-aside funding. The state legislature also appropriated $100,000 that will be used to upgrade the play area and add shade.
Planning and design for the project was performed by MRWM Landscape Architects. Construction will be led by Franklin’s Earthmoving, Inc.