After unveiling new playground equipment and improvements at the Schaefer, Rose and South County Regional parks in April, Lewis County’s interim manager Steve Wohld recently told The Chronicle about the county’s continued efforts to revitalize its parks.
One of the biggest changes will include a disc golf course at Schaefer Park north of Centralia before the end of the year, Wohld said.
“We don’t have an exact date on it yet but we’re ordering the parts for it right now. We’re putting in at least a full 18-hole course,” Wohld said.
He added Schaefer Park could also see the addition of pickleball courts, though the courts might not be ready until next year.
“We’ll test that out over there and if it works out well, we’ll extend it out to South County (Regional Park),” Wohld said.
Additionally, Wohld said all of the swing sets throughout the parks are now Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.
Wohld has been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic under the direction of the Lewis County commissioners with the goal of not just reopening parks but increasing use by residents.
While the parks were still usable, they were shuttered during the pandemic with no amenities available. This is the first year the parks have been fully reopened.
Wohld said he has been working with Lewis County’s new parks and recreation director, B.J. Kuykendall, to hash out ideas and find funding sources to breathe new life into the parks.
Utilizing both state and federal grants, they have been able to get new equipment for the parks to make them appeal to as many county residents as possible.
At Rose Park, a new fitness course has been incorporated into the trail.
“The next phase for Rose Park, and actually Schaefer will get some of this too, there’s going to be a phase of trail restoration,” Wohld said. “We’ll go through and put all the jogging trails back in and open them back up.”
The response from residents has been promising, Wohld said, with park attendance on the rise already.
“If you drive by on any weekend — if you went over there now there would be people there — but on the weekends, it's packed,” Wohld said.
As for the park at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, county officials plan to require a permit, meaning it will only be available to campers using the RV hookups at the campgrounds.
Improvements have been made there, too, and plans to incorporate a nature trail along the fairground levee are in the works, with the goal of making the area more of a recreational campground attracting more travelers.
There are 200 RV hookup sites at the park currently, meaning the park could potentially be a big revenue source for Lewis County.
“If you do the math, 40 bucks a night times 200 times a couple of months, that’s a lot of revenue. So it ends up being an alternative to a parks tax and the other parks will benefit from it as well,” Wohld said.
For more information on Lewis County’s parks, including locations and amenities, visit https://lewiscountywa.gov/departments/parks-recreation/.
To book an RV hookup campsite at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, visit https://rover.domains/preview/south-west-washington-fairgrounds-centralia-wa.
