Woodland park gets boost from Cowlitz County

LONGVIEW — A long-planned city park and sports complex in Woodland is getting county money to build sidewalks and curbs in the ongoing effort to complete the first of three planned construction phases in 2023.

Organizers of the project have spent about $3 million of the estimated roughly $16 million total and estimate the entire complex — which is set to include baseball, softball and soccer fields — could be completed by 2027.

Cowlitz County commissioners agreed last month to give $300,000 to the Rotary Club of Woodland to help develop the 40-acre Scott Hill Park and Sports Complex, located off Scott Hill Road, about a nine minute walk northeast of the Woodland Police Department.

The commissioners entered into an interlocal agreement, a type of contract, with the Rotary Club of Woodland to give rural county development funds to build the park. The agreement says the funds are generated through a sales and use tax that can be used for public facilities serving economic development in rural areas.

According to the contract, the county would have no say in the “design or management” of the project, and if the park fails to be built, the Rotary Club must repay the county.

The city of Woodland bought the lot in 2011 and broke ground in 2017. Before choosing to build a park, the lot was slated to be a new community of 169 houses, according to the Scott Hill Park project’s site.

The city and Rotary created an agreement in December 2011, where the city would retain ownership of the land while the Rotary handled the fundraising, which includes individual donations, for the park. The park received $600,000 from the state in 2021.

The park’s name comes from a previous farm on the property owned by Conrad Scott.

Sandy Larson of the Rotary said the park could be completed in four years, and is slated to include two baseball fields, two softball fields, playgrounds, and three soccer fields. The only field that will be made of grass is in the first phase, while the others will be covered in artificial grass.

Over the past year, amenities that have been added include an event shelter, maintenance building, restrooms, walking trail, entrance road, and a yet-to-be finished parking lot, Larson said.

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