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Clarkdale updates Selma Mungini Steam Park construction, sets Aug. 30 grand opening
Summary
Town staff reported major construction items complete at Selma Mungini Steam Park, announced a $500,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund award and $285,500 raised in cash, and outlined an Aug. 30 grand‑opening plan while acknowledging remaining punch‑list items and neighborhood concerns about drainage and lighting.
Town staff told the Clarkdale Parks and Recreation Commission at a March 2 special meeting that Selma Mungini Steam Park is nearing completion but still has several punch‑list items to finish before opening.
The staff update said seating walls, playground equipment, lighting conduits and electrical work are installed, the restrooms are complete except for toilets that must be returned by the manufacturer, and concrete picnic tables and benches are being staged for placement. Staff said the basketball court will be primed and painted after nearby heavy‑equipment operations finish — currently expected around Aug. 4 — and the playground company will return Aug. 14 to complete its punch list and install the shade structure for the swings.
"We received an additional $500,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund," the staff report said, raising the project cap and helping close budget gaps created by rising costs. Staff also reported $285,500 in cash donations and roughly $600,000 in in‑kind labor donations, largely from Freeport, and said National Parks approved removing the previously scoped pickleball courts from the project.
Resident Wendy Jackson, whose property abuts the park, thanked staff for the grant news but urged the commission to address ongoing drainage that she says runs onto her property. "We do have serious drainage problems that need to be fixed because everything comes on my property," she said, and asked whether riprap or piping could be added where runoff concentrates.
Jackson also pressed for clearer lighting plans and smaller fixtures, saying, "Those lights are bigger than the ones in town… I still, after all this time, do not know the plan. If they come on, do they all come on?" Staff responded that the lights are dark‑sky compliant, will be set on timers and the basketball court lights operate by a one‑hour push button; overall park lighting is expected to turn off by 9 p.m. and some feature lighting by 10 p.m.
Staff outlined remaining work: resolving localized sidewalk and berm damage from equipment, finishing the art wall details, installing the solar charging table and bike rack, completing riprap placement, finishing tree planting and pollinator gardens later this summer or early fall, and securing a certified playground inspector before opening.
The commission also discussed outreach for an Aug. 30 grand opening (staff proposed a 9 a.m. start), plans to invite donors, contractors and community partners, and activity ideas including a band, birds of prey demonstrations, booths from local health and recreation partners, and a scavenger hunt for families. Staff noted printed interpretive "lollipop" signs for STEAM stations may not arrive before the opening and proposed temporary laminated signs or volunteer station hosts for the day.
The commission adjourned at 6:31 p.m. and planned an informal, non‑business park tour immediately afterward.
