WALLACE — Shoshone County is planning more than $366,000 in improvements at Gene Day and West Shoshone parks. 

Last week, county commissioners met with Shoshone County Public Works Director Wayne Corona to discuss the parks and review his proposal for revitalizing the two facilities. 

Corona proposed $366,416 in upgrades, including improvements to playground equipment, park amenities and maintenance infrastructure. 

“There’s a lot of existing facilities that need work done to get them back up to the standard they were in when they were new,” Corona stated. 

He further explained that he prioritized refurbishment and repair work ahead of simply going out and replacing pieces, but there some areas where that just couldn’t be avoided. 

Proposed upgrades at Gene Day Park, in Osburn, include additions to the west and middle playgrounds, along with new surfacing and border work at all playground areas. 

Maintenance projects call for replacing the park’s main power supply and turbine well pump, repairing cracked concrete at the west kitchen, sanding and repainting 11 light poles, and installing concrete-anchored parking stops. 

Recreation and beautification improvements include resurfacing the tennis and basketball courts, resetting basketball poles, installing two new tetherball units, adding baseball bases, planting six shade and flowering trees, and adding four new picnic tables at barbecue areas. 

The proposed improvements plan allocates approximately $204,836 to Gene Day Park. 

In Pinehurst at West Shoshone Park, proposed improvements include replacing one playground, adding a seesaw to a second playground, and renewing surfacing and borders at both play areas. 

Planned maintenance projects include purchasing a new zero-turn mower and hedge trimmer, repairing the gazebo roof, replacing two damaged toilets, sealing deteriorating pavilion poles, repairing a cracked water-heater pipe, and continuing parking lot and landscaping improvements. 

Recreation upgrades include resurfacing the basketball court, replacing tennis, volleyball and basketball nets, and installing a new bike rack. 

The total for those proposed improvements is $161,581. 

Combined, the proposal allocates approximately $204,836 to Gene Day Park and $161,581 to West Shoshone Park, for a total investment of about $366,417 in the county's park system. 

Many of the proposed projects address aging structures and equipment that have become safety concerns for families using the parks, creating potential liability issues for the county unless the facilities were closed entirely. 

Last year, the commissioners, following a request from Commissioner Dave Dose, set aside $300,000 in Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Funds (LATCF) specifically for park improvements.   

Created under the American Rescue Plan Act, LATCF provides counties with flexible federal funding that can be used for most governmental purposes, including infrastructure, public safety, parks and community services.

During the Sept. 3 meeting, Dose acknowledged that $300,000 would not cover all of Corona’s proposed projects and said he planned to visit local businesses to see whether they would be interested in contributing toward the remaining balance. 

Dose said his goal is to ensure businesses that donate to the effort begin seeing results immediately. 

“It’d be important to tell those potential donors this work is starting this fall,” Dose said. “Playgrounds are going in. This is between now and next spring that we’re trying to do these things.” 

The other commissioners agreed with Dose and reiterated their desire to see the parks returned to their former glory. 

“I know we need to upgrade,” Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman said. “This is all about taking care of the stuff that we have. If we don’t maintain it, it’s going to cost us double.” 

For Commissioner Melissa Cowles, the concerns centered on safety and compliance issues, including ADA compliance. 

“It’s important to be compliant,” Cowles said. “It’s our responsibility to do the upkeep.”