Elks Park grand re-opening

RANGELY I Over the last year, Rangely residents have watched Elks Park undergo a facelift, from new restrooms and dugouts to a custom-made entrance sign and a larger pavilion.
Now that summer is here, the Western Rio Blanco Metropolitan Recreation and Park District (WRBM) believes it’s time to celebrate those improvements.
“The park’s been done for awhile, but we didn’t want to host an event when it was cold,” director of aquatics Camilla Kennedy said. “We wanted to get something going over the Fourth of July weekend and make it kind of an annual event.”
That event is being touted as the Grand Re-Opening of Elks Park on Saturday, July 7. Free inflatable play structures open for kids at 10 a.m., followed by a grand re-opening ceremony at 12:30 p.m. at the main pavilion. A “Surf-n-Turf” lunch of steak and shrimp, or a hot dog lunch, will be served for $25 or $5, respectively (note: lunch tickets need to be purchased by June 29 at the Recreation Center). Afternoon events include a rib cook-off at 2:30 p.m., with a salsa contest at 5 p.m. and rib tasting and judging at 6 p.m.
Other spruce-ups at the park include new score boxes, scoreboards and fencing at the softball fields; a combination concessions/storage/ restroom building next to the fields; and the park’s newest addition, an electronic play system called NEOS that offers physically interactive games from musical creation to bubble-blasting to hockey.
WRBM Executive Director Tim Webber says that although the district budgeted for these projects, extra hands and help were a major factor in their completion.
“We’ve had a lot of in-kind work and a $3,500 donation from Moon Lake to get these projects done,” Webber said. “There was also a lot of donated labor from W.C. Striegel. Tim Spach and Able Construction have been great. We’re also thankful to Bill Laster and Billy Estes with WRBM for all their help.”
Projects in the district’s five-year plan include a splash park to be built on the pool patio and a dome-like structure that could house a walking track and basketball courts.
For more information about the Grand Re-Opening, contact Kennedy at 675-8211.