OTHELLO — Lions Park in Othello has been the subject of several upgrades over the past few years, giving the park a facelift with improvements to its ballfields, basketball courts and playground.

“These are all facilities that should be attractive for even visitors that come to town and use,” Othello City Engineer Shawn O’Brien said. 

The process of upgrading the park began in 2020, with funding for the various projects coming from the American Rescue Plan Act, money from the city itself and numerous grants from Washington’s Recreation and Conservation Office. The first project was upgrading the ballfields, which was done in 2020.

“That gave us four fields that are all right there in a location with a concession stand, umpire room – all the facilities you need for that,” O’Brien said. 

One of the issues the ballfields faced was puddling water after rain showers, as well as the soil building up when meeting the infield. The project, which cost $400,000 and was 75% covered by an RCO grant, brought higher-quality playing surfaces to Othello.

“Taking out the existing soil, and coming in with material that’s equivalent to that most of the Major League Baseball fields use,” O’Brien said. “It’s a clay mixture that holds its form, and provides a good playing surface.”

In the summer of 2023, the city put its ballfields to the test by hosting the Washington Little League 8/9/10 State Tournament which saw 22 games played over nine days in late July. 

“Hosting a state tournament for the first time was a resounding success,” Othello Parks and Recreation Director Valerie Hernandez wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “The parks and recreation and public works departments joined forces to ensure that the tournament was a memorable experience. Moving forward, we're excited to expand community involvement.”

Another improvement to Lions Park was to its basketball courts, which had become worn down after years of use. The city replaced the two worn-out courts with a new four-court basketball complex in May 2023, with lights set up above them and connected by walking paths, with benches and water fountains dotted around the courts.

The basketball court project cost $650,000, with funding provided by a $350,000 RCO grant and $177,000 in ARPA funds.

“We envision (the courts) attracting some three-on-three basketball tournaments, and we’re still looking at what we can use that facility for to try and attract events here to town,” O’Brien said.

The biggest project in the series of upgrading Lions Park was the new playground being installed, which O’Brien called a “destination playground.”

“When this facility’s done, it’ll be one of the largest rubber surface playground areas in the state,” O’Brien said. “That company that’s doing it has never done anything that has this many components in this large an area.”

Designed with a railroad theme, the playground will have rubber surfacing to cushion any falls. Installation of the rubber surface requires temperatures to remain above 40 degrees, leading to the project’s estimated completion date of mid-May 2024, Hernandez said.

“It’s incredible how much science goes into playground equipment,” O’Brien said. “It’s got all kinds of components for kids of all kinds of learning abilities.”

The playground, which totals in cost at $1.9 million and was the subject of two RCO grants and $600,000 in state allocations, won’t just be for children, O’Brien added.

“It’s going to have eight adult exercise stations located around it so that parents have stuff to do while their kids are playing,” O’Brien said. “It should be something that should be an asset to the community.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Different facilities at Lions Park in Othello have been undergoing upgrades since 2020, including the ballfields.