Park facelift proposed
By Jill Denning Gackle
BHG News
A plan to improve access to Riverside Park hit a bumpy road recently.
A project called Riverside Park Enhancement Project was presented Jan. 13 by City Auditor Milissa Price to the Outdoor Heritage Fund advisory committee. The project was denied, along with 56 of the 74 applications.
The Outdoor Heritage Fund, established by the legislature, has $15 million annually or $30 million biennially, to spend on projects designed to enhance habitat, public access, hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation in the state. The advisory committee recommended funding about $6 million in projects; more project applications will be heard in April, August and November.
Price, on behalf of the City of Washburn, applied for funding for reconstruction of a road leading to the Riverside Park, with a price tag of $756,616. She told the committee that if only a portion of the project could be funded, the city requests $405,000 for the boat ramp road, which she said was the highest priority. Riverside Park includes a boat ramp, courtesy dock, fishing pier, disc golf park, waking trail, Sioux Ferry, campground, comfort stations, playground area, historical land marks and 2,600 feet of prime river shoreline.
"Riverside Park is a hidden treasure," Price told the committee. "The Missouri River continues to see more recreational use."
