MARYSVILLE Workers are half finished with the first major improvements to the Jennings Memorial Park entry way in several years, as a local company installed several new fixtures in the courtyard next to the big red barn last week.
Belmark Homes donated two large pergolas and a planting trellis for the park, and volunteers from the Marysville home builder were painting and staining the new fixtures in the warm weather Aug. 2 and 3.
The trellis runs through the spine of the main parking lot just off of Armar Road and will be planted with vines and other vegetation. The two pergolas are wood structures that will also bear plants in time, and will add to the amenities of one of the Marysville Parks systems biggest draws, according to director Jim Ballew.
The entire project will cost $74,458, but donations from the Marysville noon Rotary and Belmark Homes will allow the city to make the most of a tight budget. The department had originally hoped to revamp the entire entryway, starting at the curb by creating a new path through the stand of trees in the middle of the driveway loop, accented by picnic tables, benches and other fixtures worth $36,000, courtesy of the Rotary. Those plans are on hold for now, but the work last week included installation of the pergolas measuring about 16 feet on a side and the trellis. Those were donated and installed by workers from Belmark Homes. The first phase will allow the department to use the Rotary donations, too.
Fabulous effort, Ballew said as he checked out the work with company representative Mike Winje standing next to him. Weve had such a dramatic change here in two days.
We just like to do charities for the city, Winje explained. The city takes good care of us, we take care of them.
One of the pergolas stands just a few yards from the Jennings barn, one of the most popular facilities in the city portfolio, according to Ballew, who said it is rented four days out of the week on average. Now the west side of the barn will have an elegant new plaza of concrete stamped and colored to look like stone, with the pergola taking center stage, accented by plantings.
Heres your new wedding chapel over there, Ballew said, pointing to where an old artillery gun used to stand.
That relic was donated to the Marysville Historical Society and is being stored behind the Rotary Ranch Petting Zoo. In its place was another pergola, being stained by two Belmark Employees, accounting manager Elizabeth Cox and assistant project manager Wes Ayers.
Three of their colleagues were working on the other pergola production assistant Jennifer Kelly, superintendent Kevin Clark and customer service representative Dave Holte were clambering over the wood beams with brushes and cans of stain.
Its nice to get out of the office, Kelly said to a chorus of nods from her cohorts.