HomeMy WebLinkAboutEast Gallatin Recreation Area Master Plan
Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Thom White, Park and Cemetery Superintendent
Chris Kukulski, City Manager
SUBJECT: East Gallatin Master Plan
MEETING DATE: January 28, 2008
BACKGROUND: Master Plan proposal brought forth by the Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club for
the East Gallatin Park Recreational area. On December 13, 2007 the proposed plan was
recommended for approval by the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board. (RPAB)
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the City Commission approves the plan as
proposed.
FISCAL EFFECTS: Currently City maintained, with the proposed infrastructure improvements
funded primarily by Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club. Supplemental money may be available
through the Park Improvement Grant (PIG) program.
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission.
Respectfully submitted,
_________________________________ ____________________________
Ron Dingman, Park and Recreation Superintendent Chris A. Kukulski, City Manager
Attachments:
Report compiled on :
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East Gallatin Park
Master Plan
Bozeman, Montana June 2006
Prepared for:
Bozeman Recreation and Park Advisory Board
Initial Draft Prepared by:
Alex Hallenius and Doug Chandler
Allied Engineering Services, Inc.
(406) 582-0221
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History
East Gallatin Park is located along Manley Road, in the northern portion of the City of Bozeman.
The core land for the park was donated by the late Glen Hash, a long-time resident of Gallatin
County, and founder of Bozeman Sand and Gravel. The current lake was once a gravel pit, and
the land surrounding the lake includes a reclaimed
borrow area and the capped City of Bozeman landfill
on the North. The site was initially adopted by a
small group of volunteers and was later adopted by
the Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club as a club project.
The Bozeman Sunrise Rotary has made numerous
improvements to the site since that date including
several shelters, beach grading and retaining wall,
trail work including a boardwalk across wetlands, and
this park master plan to guide future projects.
Present Condition and Needs
Figure 1 is an aerial map of the park area, which shows the existing layout, in addition to the
network of trails surrounding the park. The park presently has three small picnic shelters, one
large pavilion, two vault-type toilets, two volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, a handicap-accessible
fishing dock, and a gravel parking area. In addition, the park has approximately 400 linear feet of
sandy beach, with a retaining wall to separate the grassy areas from the beach. Approximately
3.2 miles of Gallatin Valley Land Trust trails are immediately accessible from the park, with
future expansion destined to link the park to the valley-wide “Main Street to the Mountains”
Trail System.
Visitors to the park enjoy vistas of the Bridger Mountain Range to the North and East, as well as
distant views of the Gallatin, Madison, and Tobacco Root Ranges to the South and West.
Although the park borders industrial areas to the
South and West, the East Gallatin River lies to
the to the North and East, and the North side of
the park borders agricultural and residential
lands.
Park visitors are as varied as Gallatin Valley’s
residents. A summer afternoon or evening often
plays host to volleyball games, barbecues,
school or company picnics, fishing, sunbathing,
swimming, boating, or a stroll around the lake.
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As the seasons change, so do recreational activities. East Gallatin Park is a wintertime favorite
for ice-skating, and die-hard fishermen and women can be spotted virtually year-round.
Although the City presently doesn’t control ice access or monitor the ice thickness or safety, the
pond is well- used in the winter by skaters and ice fishers. This plan recommends that the
bathrooms be constructed for year-round use and include a changing room/warming hut. This
plan acknowledges some liability and management issues go along with this approach, but
suggest that the issues could be addressed in worst case by locking and closing the restrooms for
winter if necessary.
Although East Gallatin Park serves thousands of visitors each year, park facilities are primitive
compared to the rest of the city’s parks. There is currently no drinking water service or sewer
service available and parking during the busiest times (summer afternoons) can be limited.
Gravel roads mean that dust is always a concern during the hot summer months, and poor site
drainage leaves pools of water in the middle of the parking lot. In the winter, ice-skaters are
literally left out in the cold with no place to warm up and be sheltered from the wind.
In order to bring East Gallatin Park closer to its full potential as a significant focal point of the
community, the following priorities, listed in no particular order, have been identified:
• Provide water and sewer service to the park with drinking water and flush toilets.
• Provide a changing room with potential for year-round use.
• Expand existing beach area to accommodate more visitors.
• Provide more grass/landscape area between the parking lot and the existing shelters.
• Provide a shallow wading area of the pond with a defined (boulder) boundary.
• Provide a landscaped (shady) and grassy terrace between the rest room and the beach.
• Provide a toboggan hill/berm.
• Provide volleyball courts with berms for ball containment and spectators.
• Provide a large, new pavilion on the east side of the park.
• Update the park with more landscaping.
• Develop paved roads and parking.
• Encourage use of the extensive Gallatin Valley trail system by providing a link to the
“Main Street to the Mountains” Trail Network.
• Ensure that the park maintains its identity as a community-supported, family-oriented
recreational area.
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Master Plan Recommendations
The Park Master Plan overlaid on an aerial photo of the existing park is shown in Figure 2. The
proposed changes to the park will meet the priorities listed above, and allow the park to function
as a better planned, more beautiful, more accessible community space. Landscaping will
specified at a later date, and will be designed to add to the natural beauty of the park. Figure 3
provides the same master plan without the air photo base.
Another important aspect of the park is its integration with the local Trail Network. Figure 1
shows the existing trail system, along with the proposed connection to the “Main Street to the
Mountains” Trail Network. By adding only a few hundred feet of trails, East Gallatin Park can be
linked by walking or biking path to the City of Bozeman, Montana State University, and the
Bridger Mountain Range trail system.
Project Development
The East Gallatin Park is maintained by the City of Bozeman Parks Department. Development
of planned park features is by cooperative effort between the City of Bozeman and the Bozeman
Sunrise Rotary Club. Early cost estimates to implement the proposed improvements illustrated
in this master plan were on the order of $1,000,000. The Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club has
successfully completed several major projects using limited club funds, matching grants, and
volunteer labor and in-kind donations by club business people and other local businesses. The
Sunrise Rotary Club has initiated a major, annual fund raising project (Golf in the Dark for East
Gallatin Park) in 2005 and expects to continue the program in 2006. These funds, together with
other private and public in-kind or cash donations, matching grants, etc. are the presently
conceived funding mechanisms for the proposed improvements.
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The Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club would like to install water and sewer service and construct a
restroom in the summer of 2006. This would require either expedient approval of this somewhat
brief (conceptual) master plan, or perhaps simply approval of those particular elements (i.e. the
water and sewer services and the restroom location). The timing and even sequence for the
other improvements is not yet decided and would proceed on a funds available basis. Review of
final designs of each major element depicted in this plan would be coordinated between the
Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club and the City of Bozeman Parks Department.
View to the west of parking/vault toilet. View to the east of parking in foreground
and playground equipment & pavilion back.
View of main parking area with shelters View of existing pavilion
and vault toilet in background. This parking
area would be re-configured to provide more
landscape area between parking and shelters.
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