City moves ahead on Central Dry Canyon Park project; parks budget includes parking, ADA improvements and funding placeholder for ice rink

Parks Director Jessica McClanahan and operations manager Josh Wedding briefed the budget committee on the parks fund and a major capital project now under construction in Redmond’s Central Dry Canyon.

McClanahan said the Central Dry Canyon scope includes sidewalks, parking, improved pedestrian and vehicular circulation, and a reconfiguration of the Spud Bowl skate area. She told the committee the project runs from the tennis and pickleball courts through Sam Johnson, Kiwanis Field, the Spud Bowl and north past Black Butte to the dog park.

The parks capital program for FY 2025–26 includes about $4.7 million allocated toward major parks projects; McClanahan also noted a related Well 9 project that will add a flush restroom and parking near the dog park. She said construction began a few weeks earlier and the work includes addressing unmanaged parking and missing ADA connections.

McClanahan said the city maintains 29 developed parks (just under 100 acres) and uses a level-of-service target of 4 acres of developed parkland per 1,000 residents; she said the city is about 50 acres short of that target but has purchased two properties intended for future community-park development (Southwest Elkhorn and Northwest Pershall).

The parks budget includes several smaller items: $105,000 for seasonal staff (roughly four seasonal employees), $90,000 to update the Centennial Park splash pad control systems and $173,000 for water-irrigation upgrades the department says will target additional water-use savings after a prior 10 percent reduction. Parks staff also budgeted for a turf vacuum to reduce wear on mowing equipment.

McClanahan said the budget carries a $1 million placeholder from system development charges (SDCs) for a potential downtown ice-rink project; she said council would receive more information on that amenity in June. The parks department also plans to add several security cameras and continue park maintenance and improvements funded from a mix of general fund and SDC revenues.

The committee asked whether trail or HOA-managed open space is counted in park-acreage calculations; staff said HOA-maintained parks are not part of the city’s developed-parkland calculation.

The parks fund presentation will be reviewed again in later budget discussions.