Gage Bain, 13, works the ramps Wednesday afternoon at the Jim Holm Park in Granite Falls. The downtown stake park will receive $51,600 to overhaul and install streetscape-style obstacles that are expected to appeal to a wider variety of riders.

Gage Bain, 13, works the ramps Wednesday afternoon at the Jim Holm Park in Granite Falls. The downtown stake park will receive $51,600 to overhaul and install streetscape-style obstacles that are expected to appeal to a wider variety of riders.

Upgrades at park in Granite Falls cater to a wider audience

GRANITE FALLS — A popular downtown park is in the middle of a four-year transformation that includes revamping the skate park, adding a picnic shelter and replacing playgrounds.

The Granite Falls City Council earlier this month approved a plan to put in $51,600 of new streetscape-style skating equipment at Jim Holm Park, right next to City Hall at 206 S. Granite Ave. The goal is to have a 60-by-60-foot concrete slab poured in July and the new equipment installed by the second week of August, city manager Brent Kirk said.

“We’re trying to get a short timeline so the kids have some time to play on it before the summer’s done,” he said.

The new skateboarding features are being tacked on to the existing park. City officials hope to replace the rest of the equipment next year.

Also this summer, workers are adding a new covered picnic shelter. That should be finished in the next month or so, Kirk said.

“This year the plan was to do something for the adults,” he said.

The city has invested about $210,000 in overhauling Jim Holm Park since 2014. The last two years were all about the kids. A new playground for little ones was added two years ago, and the play equipment for older kids was replaced last summer.

About a month ago, workers tore out a sand volleyball court that no one ever used, Kirk said. That area is being planted with grass to create more open space.

The park also has a new set of stairs leading down to it from the road and a drinking fountain is going to be added soon.

All of the changes have created a more welcoming atmosphere, Kirk said. He’s gotten a lot of good feedback from the community.

“It’s a totally new park,” he said.

While work continues on the park, the rest of downtown Granite Falls also is bustling with construction. More than $1.6 million worth of road, sidewalk and water line projects started in April and are expected to run through the summer. South Granite Avenue already has been torn up and repaved. Parts of Wabash Avenue and Pioneer Street also are getting reworked, including the addition of some parking areas with permeable pavement paid for through grant money. Pavement overlays are planned for part of the Mountain Loop Highway and Stanley Street, too.

“There’s probably more work going on this summer than there’s been in the last seven years I’ve been here,” Kirk said. “There’s a lot going on downtown.”

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Southbound lanes on Highway 99 reopen after crash

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, blocked traffic for over an hour. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.