EPHRATA — The Ephrata Parks and Recreation Department cut the ribbon on new playground equipment at Lions Park, located at 598 Parkway Blvd. in Ephrata, under Beezley Hill.  

“Lions Park is officially back open,” said Ephrata Parks and Recreation Director Josh Johnson. “We have a brand new play structure for five to 12-year-olds; we have some new play features for toddlers, come on down everybody and check it out.”  

Johnson said the new equipment cost just a bit less than $118,000 and was paid for primarily with park impact fees, an administrative cost assessed when new housing is built in the city to ensure parks are sufficient to meet the population’s needs. With proper maintenance, he said the new playground equipment should last as long as three decades, possibly longer. He added that the Parks Commission had reviewed eight concepts and voted on what they felt would serve residents best. The recommendation was subsequently forwarded to Ephrata City Council and approved in early October 2025. 

Johnson had previously told the Columbia Basin Herald that the park is one of the busiest in Ephrata, but prior to the new equipment wasn’t set up for older children. Previously existing equipment was more oriented toward toddlers. The new equipment, which includes a jungle gym with two slides, a bridge and other features for children to play on, serves the older children visiting the park better.  

Improvements at the park aren’t quite done, Johnson said. Additional pieces of equipment to expand offerings for toddlers are still coming.  

“Those remaining pieces will finalize the last piece that will be added to the toddler amenities, including a mini slide,” he said via email after the opening event.  

Much of the city’s staff were present for the ribbon cutting, with some bringing their children to give the new equipment a try. Johnson said the work city employees did in assembling the equipment saved the city a good deal of money when compared to what it would have cost to have a vendor install the new playground. 

“Sometimes, on the part of the playground companies, they’ll include that within your project, where it’s essentially like 30-40 percent (of the cost), and they’ll just come through and (do the install) in two or three weeks,” Johnson said. “These guys (with the city) took it on, and they’ve never done anything like this before.”  

Installation began in December and the opening ceremony occurred March 6 after wood chips had been laid under the new equipment for safety.  

    Ephrata Police Department Manager Jennifer Hansen, dressed in a special uniform for the opening of the new playground at Ephrata’s Lions Park, tests out the newly installed slide.