City moving forward with River's Edge Park plans
Youngster Jude Croil fishes at River’s Edge Park earlier this summer. (Chris Peterson photo)
The final draft of the master plan for the improvements to River’s Edge park will be released on the City of Columbia Falls website later this week, according to a press release from City Public Works Director Tyler Bradshaw.
The final draft of the plan will also be a topic of discussion at a Parks Committee meeting at City Hall starting at 7 p.m. Aug. 20.
A number of possible improvements suggested for the park were unveiled at a public meeting in June, including covered picnic tables, pavilions, restrooms, a dog park, a BMX bike course and more.
To help draft a master plan for the park, the city contracted the help of Kalispell’s WGM Group of engineers, planners and landscape artists and also conducted both an online and physical survey of park users and area residents to help determine what people would like to see in the park.
The possible upgrades come on the heels of the recent addition of a fishing pond to the park, a project that was funded by $150,000 in grants from the LOR Foundation and the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks’ Bill Kamps Memorial Fund.
The fishing pond, which came in nearly $50,000 under budget, has left the city with those funds to help jump-start additional upgrades to the park.