COEUR d’ALENE — While it’s still in the speculative stage, Mayor Steve Widmyer hopes to begin transforming the parking lot at Independence Point into a handicapped-accessible beach front.

“This is all conceptual right now, and it still has to go through the council process for approval,” he said last week. “But that is absolutely the most prime waterfront area in downtown. Why would anyone want to park cars there?”

With council approval, Widmyer said the city could begin construction of the new park area as early as this fall.

“We could do a lot of this work in-house,” Widmyer said, adding that the cost figures have yet to be determined. “We have a pretty talented in-house team. We could do all of the hardscape work and get a private partner to help with the landscaping.”

Widmyer said he has talked with potential partners and they like the concept, but no official partnership has been developed.

The mayor said Welch Comer and Associates is drawing up plans for the park, beach front and parking replacement along West Mullan Avenue near Memorial Field.

“Mullan has five lanes and that was needed when it was the only way in and out of (North Idaho College),” he said. “We could narrow that down to two lanes and put in diagonal parking.”

The move would calm traffic on that street and provide more connectivity between City Park and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management property the city intends to lease in the future. The BLM property stretches from Memorial Field to Riverstone.

“We could have a connected park system from McEuen Park to Riverstone,” Widmyer said, adding that it could eventually extend east to Higgens Point and west to Mill River.

The concept would retain about a dozen handicapped parking spaces at the Independence Point parking lot, as well as a drop-off lane.

Some of the beach amenities could include a concrete ramp in the water that is accessible by wheelchair, and possibly a custom dock designed for kayaks and paddle boards.

Phil Boyd, president of Welch Comer, said his company is working on the Independence Point project as well as a master plan from Sherman Avenue to Higgens Point along East Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive, and the BLM property from Memorial Field to Riverstone.

“It is really exciting what’s going on right now,” Boyd said.

He said that within two or three years, depending on funding, Coeur d’Alene could have Higgens Point connected to Mill River Park via the Centennial Trail.

City Attorney Mike Gridley said he is working with Burlington Northern Railroad to put together a sales agreement for the railroad right of way that runs from Riverstone to Mill River.

Gridley said he expects to have that agreement within the next three months, but he added that the city won’t close on that property that fast.

“That is a key piece of property for the development of that land,” he said.

The right of way bisects much of the land between the Spokane River and Seltice Way. If the city controls that property, it could potentially use that to leverage more public access to the river when that part of town is redeveloped.

As for the Independence Point project, Boyd said his firm has not “put pen to paper” yet.

“We know that there will be opportunities for handicapped accessibility to the water,” Boyd said, adding that all of Coeur d’Alene’s residents should have easy access to the water.

He said there are three user groups that haven’t been addressed yet: kayaks, paddle boards and fully accessible water entry for the handicapped.

“Specifically, (Independence Point) is well suited for that,” he said.

Boyd said the idea to remove the parking lot and add the additional beach amenities came up during the public meetings that were held on the Four Corners planning project.

“The Four Corners BLM project will have a number of projects that will happen over time,” Boyd said. “But Independence Point can happen pretty quickly if it’s approved.”