Richland Parks: A Look Ahead to Fall

With the seasonal change to fall nearly upon us, City of Richland and contract crews are taking advantage of the mild temperatures with steady progress on a series of park and public facilities projects.

Work to renovate fields 1 and 4 at the Columbia Playfields Sports Complex is nearly complete. They will look identical to the already completed fields 2, 3 and 5 with Dura Edge infield mix used to build the surface of the baseball/softball diamonds.

City crews will perform follow-up maintenance before the fields can reopen to the public. The goal is to have them ready late Monday the 25th.

Elsewhere, the City of Richland still wants your input on the future of Leslie Groves Park as plans for long-range development across the 150-acre park are still in the works.

The Parks and Recreation Department will hold its 3rd open house for the public to view the long-range plan this coming Wednesday (9/27) from 5-7pm at Park Shelter #1.

Just south of Leslie Groves Park, the city may start demolishing the existing playground at Howard Amon Park earlier than expected. Julie Piper with the Parks and Recreation Department told the city council this week that the project could get underway this fall as opposed to spring 2023. You can learn more about that project here.

Plans for a new playground at Columbia Point Marina Park are currently in the design phase. Demolition and construction are estimated to take place in the Spring of 2024.

At Badger Mountain Community Park, a large section of the upper parking lot will close the week of September 25th for improvements through December.

If you want to access the adjacent dog park, use the entrance off Englewood Drive near Yokes grocery store as the upper parking section of the dog park will be closed during construction.

You can view the parking lot schematic here.