Depot Park master plan OK'd

Whitefish City Council unanimously approved Monday a master plan to revamp downtown’s largest open space with the notion that Depot Park is primarily a green space, not an event area.

Approval of the $2.5 million Depot Park master plan came with an amendment that erases a $542,000 budget line item to enhance the city’s snow storage lot along Railway Street for overflow parking. The cost of improving the snow storage lot proved to be a sticking point for many of the councilors, but rather than eliminating the idea they simply scratched out the estimated price tag.

All park improvements are recommended to be paid for with tax increment funds.

Major changes to the park include the removal of the bank building currently being used by the city’s planning and parks departments, and the removal of the pond. The bulk of the park will remain an open, flexible lawn area with updated turf reinforcement, and re-grading and leveling for better drainage and event staging. A small water feature is planned, as is a 24-foot gazebo on the southeast corner.

A historical interpretive area will go on the northeast corner near the Depot. New streetlights with flower baskets and banner arms also are planned.

Public restrooms are planned to go on the outside of the O’Shaughnessy Center. A second alternative for the future is to use the library building, although the Community Library board doesn’t support the idea.

The timeline for implementing the master plan remains up in the air. Any of the proposed improvements still have to go through the public process, mayor John Muhlfeld said.

Phase I of the plan includes tearing down the drive-through building to add more green space, which the Depot Park steering committee had recommended be completed as soon as this spring.

There are no plans to remove the bank building until a new City Hall is built, the council noted.

Much of the evening’s deliberations revolved around whether the park’s new design can handle the onslaught of events that happen there each summer. Parks and Recreation Director Karl Cozad noted that 11 major events are slated to happen in the park this year, which will bring in an estimated 10,000 people.

“It’s a very popular place to be, especially in the summer,” Cozad said.

The project’s landscape architect, Bruce Boody, summarized the master plan and noted the streets surrounding the park will be enhanced to help with event staging. Sidewalks will be widened to 11.5 feet and the adjacent tabled street areas of Central Avenue and the north part of Spokane Avenue are meant to serve as the primary hard surface.

Carolyn Pitman, of the Whitefish Theatre Company and the O’Shaughnessy Center, told council that when events happen on Central in front of the theater it’s difficult for staff and clients to enter and exit the building.

Councilor Phil Mitchell wrestled with the idea that events were being pushed to the streets.

“To say we are going to take downtown parking away and keep the park all green is unacceptable,” Mitchell said. “This plan doesn’t address events in the park one iota. Right now the events are on the outside parking areas. We take away parking every time we have an event.”

Boody noted that planned streetscaping alters the use patterns at the park, making it more flexible for event staging.

“As it is now, events can set up on Central and that’s it,” he said. “We’re adding flexibility. Right now, the sidewalks are barely functional.”

Bill Kahle said having events on the street does create a parking problem, but that can be solved with proposed downtown parking solutions the council will look at in the near future.

“Keeping events in the street is fine as long as we are mindful of a solution,” Kahle said.

Frank Sweeney said without an operation plan for events in the park, the city could “love [the park] to death.”