May 14—OTHELLO — A new playground probably will be coming to Othello’s Kiwanis Park, but funding will affect the timeline. It’s the next phase in improvements to the park, some of which are finished, some of which are ongoing.
Othello did receive a grant to upgrade the Kiwanis Park basketball courts. A timeline for that project will be announced.
Sarah Montemayor, the city’s grant coordinator, said Othello officials submitted grant requests to the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office to upgrade the parking lot and build a new playground. The city got part but not all of the grant, she said.
As a result, city officials decided to revise the plan and drop the upgrade for the parking lot, at least for now. The $625,000 awarded will be used to build the new playground, if, Montemayor said, the granting agency agrees.
Othello City Council members voted unanimously for the change Monday, subject to WSRCO approval. Montemayor said the city was awarded the grant, although the project, as originally planned, couldn’t be completed without more money.
“If we want it, we have it,” she said.
Council Member Angel Garza said Monday that it was important to use the money while it’s available.
“We can add to it as we go. If we get another grant next year, we can make it larger,” Garza said. “We don’t want to let this go.”
Montemayor said city officials expect to know if their plans have been approved sometime in early June. City Engineer Robin Adolphsen said if the money is available, work could — but probably won’t — start later this summer.
“It could start immediately, if we wanted to. I don’t think we’ll get started in September, just because of the other projects that are going to be going on. The goal would be start by spring of next year,” Adolphsen said.
The city has been working on Kiwanis Park for about a year, starting with upgraded bathrooms. That project is finished, and the bathrooms are open, Montemayor said.
City officials are waiting for approval from the Washington Department of Health on its plans for a Kiwanis Park splash pad, and Montemayor said that’s the last step before construction.
The splash pad and a walking trail in the park will cost $1.26 million, money the city received through a grant.
“We should be able to get to breaking ground. We are ready to move once DOH says, ‘Let’s go,'” Montemayor said.