LAKEPORT — After 11 years and $5.5 million invested, a community park in Lakeport is in its second phase of development. There are a total of five phases, and about 40 more acres to develop, according to Ron Raetz, chairman of the committee formed to develop the park.
Much of the land is still covered by brush, but organizer Charlie Jolin said there are big plans in the works for the land. It all started, he said, when the Konocti Youth Soccer League approached him asking for more space to play. At the time, Jolin was on the Lakeport Planning Commission.
“It”s gratifying that the community has accepted this project, and there isn”t one thing I”ve asked for that I haven”t gotten from the community,” Jolin said. Area organizations, businesses and individuals volunteered all of the labor and materials used in phase one. Jolin didn”t have an exact count, but he said there were “hundreds” involved.
Jolin started a committee in October 1997 to plan and build the park. On the committee were the heads of various organizations that provided activities for children, including the soccer league, the Konocti Little League and a junior horseman organization, among others. The initial request to the Lakeport City Council for 100 acres of what used to be the city”s wastewater dispersal grounds was whittled down to 55 acres, and plans got under way.
“When Richard Knoll and I started working on this, we thought it was going to take 10 years and $10 million,” Jolin said.
Phase one involved filling the city”s former wastewater dispersal ponds with dirt, creating two soccer fields and installing sprinkler systems for them, building a brick retaining wall along the fields courtesy of the Lakeport Rotary Club, planting trees, building fences around the fields and bringing in a permanent portable bathrooms that are wheelchair accessible. The Lakeport Rotary Club also poured concrete and put in a picnic table overlooking the fields in October 2007.
Phase two includes baseball and softball fields, more soccer fields, a BMX racetrack, a skateboard park, an additional roadway and a parking lot. The park is accessible by Westside Park Road, which was part of phase one.
“Now we”re ready to break ground on phase two,” Raetz said. Just to prepare the ground, the price tag is $36,000, according to Raetz. To purchase drainpipes and install them is another $68,000. The committee plans to apply for Prop 84 park bond money from the state when the money becomes available this summer.
“If we can get money there, we can finish phase two and start on three,” Raetz said. Phase three includes basketball and tennis courts and picnic area.
“Parking lots kill you, because when you start putting in pavement you put down a ton of money,” Raetz said.
For more information about the park or to donate to the cause, call Raetz at 275-2824 or Jolin at 263-4700.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
