Friday, July 5, 2013

Ketchum eyes $148K for whitewater park design

Public hearing on plan set for July 15


By GREG MOORE
Express Staff Writer

This rendering shows the city of Ketchum’s plans for a whitewater park north of the city. Graphic courtesy of city of Ketchum

    The city of Ketchum has scheduled a public hearing for Monday, July 15, to consider appropriating nearly $148,000 for design work on a proposed whitewater park on the Big Wood River.
    Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Smith said 65 percent of that money would come from city funds and the other 35 percent from private donations. The money would cover the first half of a total of $269,093 to complete a detailed design for the proposed park. The second half would be done in fiscal 2014.
    “The goal is to start construction by fall 2014,” Smith said.
    The 316-acre park would run through the Sun Peak picnic area, on what is now BLM-managed land north of Ketchum and immediately southeast of Hulen Meadows. Its main feature would be a whitewater park along about 1,500 feet of the Big Wood River, with drop features for kayakers and tubers. Other park features would include trails, river and pond access, habitat restoration, wildlife viewing, dog play areas and a wheelchair-accessible fishing pier.
    The design work would be done by Lyons, Colo.,-based S20 Design and Engineering, which created the master plan for the park.
    Ketchum—in partnership with the nonprofit Wood River Land Trust—is working to secure a Recreation and Public Purposes patent from the BLM that would transfer ownership of the land to the city so long as it uses it for public purposes.
    Smith said the city is depending on private donations to cover most of the estimated $2.5 million construction cost of the park. However, she said how that cost would be distributed between the city and private funding is yet to be determined.
    “We have to wait for the BLM’s decision before we start fundraising,” she said.




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