EPHRATA — Multiple civic projects are coming to Ephrata this year as spring starts to wave at us from the not-too-distant future. Park upgrades, sports facility improvements and roadway upgrades are among them, according to Ephrata City Administrator Ray Towry.  

“We’ll resurface a bunch more streets, a bunch more roads, and then we just put out to bed Phase One of a six pickleball and futsal-slash-basketball facility that will go in at the sports complex,” he said.  

The upgrades at the sports complex will be accomplished in multiple phases, with the first setting up the concrete pad and parking – both with drainage due to its location at the bottom of the hill near the skate park. Then six pickleball courts and the basketball and futsal courts will be added in. Initial engineering estimates for the project are about $700,000 for Phase I. Towry said increasing pickleball resources for the city makes sense because it’s one of the fastest-growing sports and is accessible to people of all ages. Adding the facility at the Ephrata Sports Complex will keep people from having to travel to enjoy the activities added, and may draw people to Ephrata to enjoy the facility.  

“We know we have people who are traveling out of town, one, two and three days a week to go play pickleball in other places,” Towry said.  

Construction is expected to begin mid-summer. The total project cost is being offset with some grant money, including funding from the Paul Lauzier Foundation, for which Towry expressed appreciation. The total contribution is spread out over four years, with $100,000 being contributed each year. The first year's distribution will be received this year and the rest will help see the project to completion. 

Playground facilities at Lions Park, which began last year, are expected to be finished within the next month, Towry said. Much of the larger structures have already been installed, but the safety items like wood chips to pad falls and borders to keep things neat are being installed along with smaller structures for younger children.  

Drivers will see improvements to city streets with additional resurfacing of roadways with chip and fog sealing, similar to how many roads were resurfaced last year, Towry said. The total cost for that is about $700,000, Towry said, but about 90% of that money is grant funding through Transportation Benefit District funding. Some of the resurfacing still needs to go out to bid, but the work is expected to be done this summer.  

    Upgrades to Lions Park in Ephrata, including playground equipment like that shown in this concept art, will be completed with installation expected to be finalized in the next month or so - just in time for spring and summer.