Dozens of trees removed from Nunley Park as city starts overhaul

What you need to know:

• Wasilla city officials removed dozens of trees from Nunley Park this month to improve safety and make way for a park renovation project. The trees will be replaced with native species later this year.
• Upgrades include a revamped parking lot, new swings and playground equipment, additional community garden beds, and improved lighting. A red "Wasilla Railroad" caboose, originally brought to the state as a McDonald’s promotion, will also be permanently removed.
• The project builds on park updates requested by the City Council last year. City officials are also planning a series of other park improvements, including upgrades to Lake Lucille’s campground and playground.

WASILLA - City crews clear-cut dozens of trees from Nunley Park in downtown Wasilla last week as part of a park update project that includes new lights and playground equipment.

The project took some residents by surprise, who said they were not warned about the plan.

Officials removed about 50 trees from the center of the 2.2-acre park make way for lighting and improve the overall safety of the area, Wasilla Public Works Director Erich Schaal said. The trees included large cottonwood and birch, he said.

Nunley Park is named after Leo Nunley, Wasilla's first mayor, and is located directly across from Wasilla City Hall.

The park project, which will be completed in phases over the summer, includes improving the parking lot; installing new swings and playground equipment; adding 10 new community garden beds; replacing 20 existing beds with new planter boxes; and installing lighting, Schaal said.

The red caboose train car emblazoned with "Wasilla Railroad" will also be permanently removed from the park as part of the overhaul, Schaal said.

A feature of the park for more than a decade, the caboose was never part of the Alaska Railroad despite what its signage may indicate, local railroad experts said.

Instead, it is a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway car brought to the state in the 1990s as part of a McDonald's restaurant gimmick, said Patrick Durand, a railroad enthusiast and project manager of a Wasilla-based effort to restore Alaska Railroad steam engine No. 557. The city purchased the car from a private owner for about $10,000 and relocated it to the park, said former city Finance Director Troy Tankersley.

The caboose has since become a park safety hazard due to its lack of railings, lead paint and asbestos-containing parts, Schaal said. Its current placement between the play structure and swing set blocks parents' view of their children, and at least one nearby business owner doesn't like it because of the noise a wheel makes when in use, he said.

“The wheel that used to be the handbrake squeaks so bad, it was driving them crazy,” he said.

Schaal said his team is looking for a community partner willing to take the caboose off the city's hands.

The trees removed from the park will be replaced later this year with native species that city crews can easily maintain, Schaal said, and planted after the new lights are installed. A similar tree replacement project in front of the Wasilla Public Library is expected to take place around the same time, he said.

While the project likely won't be fully completed by the city's Fourth of July celebration, which draws hundreds of visitors, keeping Nunley Park usable for that event is a top priority, Schaal said.

Portions of the Nunley Park overhaul were requested by the Wasilla City Council last year as a way to make the park and downtown area more inviting, especially in the winter, said Council member Stuart Graham.

“When it’s dark in the wintertime, parents are not comfortable with their kids being near the tree line,” he said. “I walk around the park and look for needles and things like that that are hazards to folks and pick those up. And those were in the tree line.”

Graham said he knew some tree work would be conducted as part of the project, but was not warned all of the trees were slated for removal.

The project is part of a series of park upgrades happening throughout Wasilla, Schaal said, including major updates to Lake Lucile Park and the city's campground. Those updates include a recent tree-clearing project to make the tent camping area usable, parking lot paving and plans for a new playground, he said.

Trees cleared from Nunley Park and Lake Lucille Park are available as firewood through a free city permit, Schaal said. Residents can obtain a permit by visiting Wasilla City Hall, he said. 

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com

This story was updated on Feb. 19 to correctly state how the caboose became city property and to update the timing of when that happened.