Big Lake's Jordan Lake Park could soon get upgrades -- if the community can raise the cash

What you need to know:

• Big Lake residents aim to raise $20,000 to clear and level five additional acres of Jordan Lake Park next to the public library, with $8,000 collected so far. The section is set to be transformed into a maintained space, with plans to eventually install playground equipment, gardens and new walking paths.
• Funding for the park could be allocated by the borough in July, but that delay means work wouldn’t start until next spring. Community members say raising funds now would allow the work to be completed this year.
• A 2004 park master plan outlined three phases of park construction, but borough budget shifts halted progress, leaving aging infrastructure, including an amphitheater and an observation deck. This project follows other recent nearby borough recreation projects, including a new playground at Jay Nolfi Fish Creek Park and the anticipated borough purchase of the Big Lake Lions Club Recreation Center.

BIG LAKE - A community park next to the Big Lake Public Library could see improvements this year — if organizers can raise money for the project in time.

A group of Big Lake community members is trying to raise $20,000 to pay for clearing and leveling this spring on five acres of Jordan Lake Park next to the library. So far, they have raised about $8,000 and need the rest by the start of construction season if they want to get all of the work done this year, they said.

Covered by small cottonwood, birch and alder that started growing in the section about 20 years ago, the southeast corner of the largely undeveloped 44-acre park was previously used as a gravel pit and today serves as a magnet for standing water and mosquitoes, said Larry McKinstry, a Big Lake resident helping with the fundraiser. 

Community members want to upgrade it to a maintained area, with plans to connect it to the park's current green space and eventually install playground equipment, community gardens and improved walking paths, he said.

The park’s overall development is guided by a master plan approved by the Mat-Su Assembly in 2004. Currently, the area includes a small, decades-old amphitheater, an observation deck overlooking Jordan Lake and crumbling interpretive signage. 

Those improvements were installed primarily by AmeriCorps volunteers and funded by a combination of borough money and a $25,000 federal grant, McKinstry said. The parking lot received state-funded upgrades about 10 years ago, said Jim Faiks, who has long championed the park project.

As approved, the master plan called for three phases of improvements between 2002 and 2010, including extended boardwalks and constructing a community center adjacent to the Big Lake Public Library, similar to the one in Willow. But when borough's spending priorities shifted to other projects, the project never fully got off the ground, Hugh Leslie, the borough's parks, recreation and library services manager, said in an interview this month.

Now, thanks to renewed community involvement, improving the park is a top recreation priority for the borough's upcoming budget process, Leslie said. If approved, the $52,000 in funding will be available starting in July, he said, and will cover the full project, including hydroseeding.

But McKinstry said waiting months for funding means dirt work can't fully happen until next spring because of bird habitat, including loons, and seasonal standing water. 

If the community instead raises some of its own funds and acts now, he said, a contractor can do all of the clearing and leveling right away. 

Faiks said their contractor is willing to complete $8,000 worth of work using the funds raised so far. That money will pay to clear most of the problem area so it can receive about 2,000 yards of free fill dirt, which will be available as part of a nearby borough culvert project slated for this spring. 

It will not cover any of the costs of leveling, he said. Once approved, borough funding can cover remaining work such as additional grading and hydroseeding, McKinstry said.

McKinstry, who is part of a park improvement committee organized under the Big Lake Community Council, said they are also applying for grants to help pay for the project. He said the money raised so far shows how invested Big Lake residents are in their community.

“When a group of folks gets together and starts pushing something, people start supporting it,” he said.

Project donation collection spots are set up at the Big Lake Post Office and library, McKinstry said. Checks can be mailed to the Big Lake Community Council at P.O. Box 520931, Big Lake, AK 99652.

Faiks said he is confident the community will come together to raise the funds.

“Twenty-two years ago, we decided to do this and build the park, and nothing has happened in 22 years,” he said. “A whole generation has gone without it, but we’re going to make it happen.”

The park project is the third major recreation improvement effort in Big Lake in recent years. In October, the borough completed a new playground and paved path at Jay Nolfi Fish Creek Park, about a mile south of Jordan Lake Park. The borough is also expected to purchase the Big Lake Lions Club Recreation Center as part of the upcoming budget and transition its operation from Lions Club volunteers to the borough's recreation system.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com