The City of Bremerton is moving forward with efforts to complete improvements to a pair of downtown parks.

City councilors were likely to approve a pair of grant applications this week to obtain more money to finish work at Anderson Cove and Evergreen Rotary parks.

Last year in May, the city used a $331,000 Department of Ecology grant to purchase a .62 acre parcel of waterfront property on Anderson Cove for storm water filtration and recreational access. The parks and recreation department will now apply to the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office for $150,000 of land and water conservation funds to improve the property for neighborhood recreational use.

Planned improvements at the park include grading, landscaping, irrigation, a path, park furniture and signage. The city will use the value of the property and volunteer labor as a local match for the additional money to complete the work.

City staff says that it will cost about $1,700 per year to maintain the park.

At Evergreen Rotary Park, meanwhile, city officials are hoping to create a playground that is accessible to all children, regardless of disability.

In 2011 the parks department and Bremerton Beyond Accessible Play (BBAP) received a $162,000 Community Development Block Grant to assist with the development of an inclusive playground and improve access at Evergreen Park for people with disabilities. A new grant application to the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office uses the block grant and successful community fundraising efforts by BBAP to meet the local match requirements for this $211,350 grant opportunity.

The anticipated total project budget is $422,700.

“When completed the Beyond Accessible Playground will be the first play area in Bremerton and Kitsap County to provide universally designed, integrated play opportunities for all children regardless of disability,” a city staff report states.