COEUR d’ALENE — The city of Coeur d’Alene could break ground on the McEuen Field redevelopment project before the recall effort is settled.

In fact, dirt could begin turning by late summer. The first part of the project would install the boat trailer parking lot on the east side of the park, south of City Hall.

“It would probably be sometime this summer, late summer or early fall,” said Doug Eastwood, parks director.

Team McEuen, the park’s designers, have until January to finish construction documents, but Eastwood said the work could be completed sooner. Construction of the estimated $14.2 million Phase 1 plan would begin at the east end lot and would also create a connector trail from the lot to the boat launch along the base of Tubbs Hill.

How far the project gets after breaking ground in 2012, if it does, could be dependent on the weather at the end of the year, Eastwood said.

The timeline means the park project could be under way by the time the recall effort has reached a resolution.

If signature gatherers are successful collecting enough signatures to put a recall election on the ballot to oust Coeur d’Alene City Council members Mike Kennedy, Woody McEvers and Deanna Goodlander and Mayor Sandi Bloem, the likely election date would be Aug. 28 or Nov. 6.

Kootenai County is asking for a judge to clarify how long signature gatherers have to collect 4,311 signatures against each of the incumbents, and that decision could affect an election date — should the effort get that far.

If an election is held in August, voters could decide the fate of the officials who approved the park plan at the same time the project is breaking ground. If an election is in November, the project could be a couple of months down the line by the time voters go to the polls.

The timeline isn’t being altered one way or the other in light of the recall effort, Bloem said. Instead, it’s just sticking to its original course.

“We’re in the middle of a contract we’re obligated to,” she said. “At this point, we’ve got a contract for the final design with the intention we would do some work in the fall of 2012.”

Frank Orzell, RecallCdA organizer, said the group will pursue petition signatures regardless of how the park project proceeds.

“There’s nothing we can do about that,” he said of the seemingly juxtaposed timelines.

The recall effort is about giving the public a vote on how the McEuen Field planning process was handled, and that includes the City Council’s decision against issuing a public advisory vote on the plan, he said. So while the recall effort likely can’t stop the park project in its tracks, it can still give the public a chance to voice its opinion of it all.

“It’s not just about McEuen,” he said. “It’s about a public voice in the affairs of the city.”