Yukon parks staff outline $320,000 Freedom Trail restroom renovation, new playgrounds and master-plan outreach

Yukon parks staff detailed a slate of capital projects and public-engagement steps at the meeting, including a planned $320,000 renovation of a restroom on the Freedom Trail, completion of recent playground work and expanded outreach for a new parks master plan.

Ryan, parks staff, told the board the city would contribute $160,000 to renovate the Freedom Trail restroom and had secured a $160,000 matching grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, “So 320,000 in total on that.” He said staff view the work as necessary both to repair aging facilities and to improve inclusivity and ADA-related features.

The report covered recently finished playground projects completed in early November and outlined five upcoming playground installs at Library, Sunrise Park, City Park, Kimball and Hillcrest. Ryan said designs are due this week and that staff hope to select vendors before Christmas to capture discounts of up to 40–50 percent. He also noted small finishing tasks at recently completed sites, such as painting parking lines after the concrete cure period.

On athletic facilities, Ryan said staff will prioritize drainage work at one Sunrise Park softball field to make it playable after rain and later address fencing and lighting upgrades. Two soccer fields are planned at Taylor Park, and the department is replacing fencing at City Park’s baseball and tee-ball fields using available capital funds once a final contractor quote is received.

Ryan described ongoing interior projects at the Dale Robertson Center: staff plan flooring replacement in March–April and expect to combine LED lighting upgrades and a coffee bar installation while programs are temporarily relocated.

The department is also advancing a parks master plan. Ryan directed board members to a postcard with a QR code linking to an interactive Social Pinpoint map where residents can place pins and comment. Staff said they collected nearly 300 survey responses at the master-plan tent during Christmas in the Park opening night and that the most common community priorities were “cleanliness and safety.” He said RDG, the consultant, has begun analyzing facility and program data and will hold several advisory-committee meetings with local stakeholders, including school-district and chamber representatives.

Ryan highlighted strong public engagement at seasonal events: opening-night attendance for Christmas in the Park rose to just under 12,000 this year from just under 7,000 last year, and donation revenue for the event was up by almost $25,000 compared with the same period last year. He played a short video of opening night and asked board members to help promote spring registration for softball, baseball and tee ball; registration links cited were yukonokay.gov/catalog and yukonball.com.

Chair thanked Ryan and parks staff for the work and invited board members to forward capital-project ideas ahead of budget season. The board approved minutes from the Nov. 19 meeting by voice vote, no roll-call tally recorded. The meeting adjourned; the next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 21 at 6:00 p.m.