Photo by Rick Bannan
From left, Washington State Rep. Ed Orcutt, Woodland councilor Al Swindell, Woodland Rotary President Asha Riley, Scott Hill Park project committee chairwoman Sandy Larson, Rotary member Darlene Johnson and Woodland Mayor Will Finn break ground on the Scott Hill Park and Sports Complex July 13. The project will feature several recreational fields on a roughly 40-acre parcel in the city.
A layout of the completed Scott Hill Park and Sports Complex.
The first ceremonial clumps of dirt were turned in Woodland last week as the Scott Hill Park and Sports Complex had an official groundbreaking at the site July 13.
Local and state officials came together with Woodland Rotary members and others to celebrate the start of a project years in the making.
Rotary Club President Asha Riley thanked city and state officials, and specifically Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, for his work in securing funds for the project, including $500,000 in funding last year and a possible $750,000 should the state capital budget move through as proposed.
“Today’s the day that we celebrate – a momentous occasion,” Riley said.
Project committee chairwoman Sandy Larson said that the completed project was hoped to be finished within three to five years at an estimated cost of $16 million. She said in terms of fundraising purposes, having something physical such as a groundbreaking to show progress would help in raising the rest of the needed funds.
The project will be completed in stages, beginning first with basic infrastructure including parking, a shelter, maintenance building, trails and a multi-use field capable of softball or soccer matches. Eventually, the rest of the field would be filled in, including both artificial and natural turf.
Woodland Mayor Will Finn spoke before the groundbreaking, focusing on how the park will help the “further strengthening of the city of Woodland’s regional draw.”
“This complex will be a destination for many, which means our city will become a destination, and not just a stop along the way for those passing through,” Finn said.
Orcutt also touched on the draw a sports complex would have, recounting times when he traveled for family sports tournaments and a lack of lodging made him realize how much of an economic boon such a development would bring.
Orcutt also mentioned the suitability of the location, saying the relatively flat, roughly 40-acre parcel was a rarity to be available. For the city, which is the official owner of the parcel, to gain it was itself a stroke of good fortune, he said, but the club’s work on spearheading the project’s development was especially praiseworthy in his eyes.
“I am so pleased that the Rotary (club) has stepped up and said, ‘Im going to make something happen,’” Orcutt said.
