A multi-use sport court with space for tennis, pickleball and half-court basketball, along with a handicap accessible playground including zipline, slides and room for the future addition of swings: These are just a few of the improvements slated to be constructed this summer at Detroit Lakes' newest city park, on the south side of town at South Shore Drive and 270th Avenue.
Related Stories:
-
Detroit Lakes' new South Shore Park beginning to take shape
-
A place to play: Detroit Lakes is getting a new city park south of town
But before these improvements can happen, about $200,000 still needs to be raised to complete the $900,000 park project, according to Beth Pridday, who is chairing the South Shore Park fundraising committee.
"We're just getting started with our campaign," she said, adding that they will be blanketing the community with flyers and scheduling speaking engagements at local service club meetings over the course of the next few weeks.
Pridday, who has sat on the Detroit Lakes Park Board for the past seven years, says that this is the first park improvement project of this magnitude that she has been involved in during her tenure on the board.
"We're fitting it up as a full-fledged park," she said, adding that several improvements like a new picnic shelter (with restrooms), paved walkway and parking lot were already added over the course of the past year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Detroit Lakes Public Works Director Shawn King said that other upgrades are in the works as well, such as plans for flooding an existing stormwater pond for use as an ice skating rink next winter.
Bids were recently let for the sport court and playground, he added, but the plans have already undergone some revisions such as the addition of a zipline feature to the playground, which will measure 120x120 feet.
"The playground design is not yet finalized," he added, but they are trying to stay within their planned budget of $400,000 for the addition of both the sport court and playground area.
Some planned features include making the playground fully handicap accessible, with textured flooring rather than sand and access ramps large enough to accommodate wheelchairs. Other future upgrades may include the addition of a set of swings adjacent to the main playground area, King said.
The sport court, meanwhile, will also measure 120x120 feet, which makes it large enough to include two tennis courts, six pickleball courts and even a space for half-court basketball.
"It's going to be a very nice park," King said.
