Volunteer park in Lakeside to expand

Volunteer Park in Lakeside is expanding.

Maggie Davis and Bruce Ennis recently purchased a piece of property north of Volunteer Park that will add about an acre to the public park.

The addition will add 30 feet along U.S. 93 and approximately 83 more feet on the lakeshore.

“This will give it some breathing room,” Davis said.

Volunteer Park was donated by Davis and Ennis, transferred to the county and opened in September of 2010. When they were initially designing the park, Davis said they knew expansion might be a possibility down the road, and they kept that in mind as they developed the existing park.

Now that they’ve purchased the additional property Davis and Ennis are working with the county parks board and county commissioners on the agreements needed. No structural additions are planned. Davis and Ennis originally developed the park after noticing that public access to Flathead Lake was quickly disappearing. When the property the park now stands on became available, they snatched it up, to create something for the Lakeside community. The couple have often visited the park themselves with their grandchildren.

“It’s everybody’s park.” Davis said. “It’s one of the few public parks in the Flathead area that is fully accessible to people of all ages and abilities. People in wheel chairs can fish from the public docks and join their families at the lakeshore.” Until the new addition is completed and formally transferred to Flathead County, it will be private property. Davis and Ennis hope to have the project completed before the end of year.