New park will suit kids, dogs in Bethel.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

If all goes according to plan, Eugene residents will have another park to play in next year.

Work on Candlelight Park in west Eugene's Bethel area should begin by June, "as soon as everything dries out," said Philip Richardson, a landscape architect with the city's Parks and Open Space division.

By fall, residents could be enjoying a playground, paths, open space and a soccer field, he said.

The city-owned property off Royal Avenue, west of Belt Line Road, is now an 11-acre, weed-covered field that mainly is used as a dog run.

But dog owners needn't get their hackles up. The southwest part of the new park, about 3 acres, will be developed as an off-leash dog run.

The proposed recreation area is between a manufactured home park on the west, new houses on the north and east, and Royal Avenue on the south.

Lara Brahms, who recently moved from Springfield to a new home one block from the proposed park, takes her dog, Boo, to the field for exercise.

"It's kind of nice to have an open field, but as far as families in the area with kids, it will be good to have a park with a playground," she said.

Before work can begin, the city must jump through a regulatory hoop. The field has a drainage ditch and a depression that collect water during the rainy seasons, making it a wetlands area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must approve the city's plans to fill the drainage ditch and the depression.

The ditch now runs in a diagonal line across the field. Richardson, the landscape architect, figures that farmers who once worked the land created the ditch to drain their fields.

Plans show the ditch filled and rerouted in meandering curves across the park so it can continue to act as a wetlands, emptying into the Greenhill tributary system. Trees, shrubs, native grasses and rushes will be planted along the channel in order to provide more wildlife habitat than what is there now, Richardson said.

The city will contribute about $25,000 to the West Eugene Wetlands "mitigation bank" in order to compensate for filling in the depression, he said.

Candlelight Park will take shape over several years, Richardson said, but the city will kick off construction next year with $500,000 from the 1998 parks and open space bond issue.

Other money may come from assessed fees to developers, he said.

Contributions of cash, materials and labor from the public are welcome, Richardson said.

In the case of Candlelight Park, dog owners could help build fences, benches or a shelter for the dog run area, he suggested.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact: Richardson at 682-4800, or e-mail: [e-mail]