PORT ORCHARD — The $1.4 million McCormick Village Park project’s completion was officially noted Dec. 21 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Port Orchard civic officials and the 26th Legislative District’s three-person delegation.
But the honest-to-goodness opening will take place sometime in the next week, Mayor Rob Putaansuu told the ceremony gathering, after the 65-acre site off Old Clifton Road drains and dries somewhat from the recent spate of rainy weather. But on this day, the park nonetheless was checked out by a few clusters of residents, old and young, who tried out some of the park’s amenities.
State representatives Michelle Caldier and Jesse Young were at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, as was newly elected state Sen.-elect Emily Randall, and the three helped to snip a red ribbon signifying the project’s completion.
Retiring state Sen. Jan Angel wasn’t at the event, but she was instrumental in helping obtain additional state funding, Putaansuu said earlier in the year. The City of Port Orchard applied for funding from the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office in 2014. The agency awarded the city a local grant for $700,000, which was paired with $600,000 generated from developer fees by GEM I LLC. McCormick Land Company donated the acreage for the project.
The fees had been allocated for a Kitsap County park but were transferred to the city when it annexed the McCormick Woods area. City impact fees also were applied to the park construction work.
In May, work began to complete the second phase of the project. It included sidewalks and paths, a pedestrian bridge and boardwalk, picnic space, play areas and play structures, a splash pad water-play feature, fenced dog park areas, paved parking stalls, drainage structures, and landscaping and irrigation. Additional elements not finished this summer and fall will be undertaken later, weather permitting.
McCormick Village Park is Port Orchard’s first regional park.
Some residents got a quick preview of the new McCormick Village Park prior to its official ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 21. (Bob Smith | Kitsap Daily News)
