– Laramie will soon get a new park. On August 6^th, the Laramie City Council approved moving forward with funding the development and construction of a park named ‘Laramie Rotary Clubs Park at Grand View Heights’ in recognition of the role the Laramie Rotary Clubs played in funding the planning and design for the new park.

“Grandview Heights has been under development since 2013, so this project has actually been in the works since that time…” said Todd Feezer, Assistant City Manager, during the August 6^th council meeting. “This park has been a long time coming and it’s great the residents out there are getting a local park to enjoy.”

In 2020, the City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Laramie Rotary Clubs outlining the details of naming the park. The clubs, Rotary Club of Laramie and Laramie Sunrise Rotary Club, contributed $20,000 and $5,000 respectively, equating to approximately 10% of the park’s cost to construct phase 1 of the park. Both Kelly Neville – President of the Rotary Club of Laramie – and Larry Struempf – President of Laramie Sunrise Rotary – expressed their support for the project.

Struempf also noted that because this park is sponsored in part by the Laramie Rotary Clubs, they could help with any improvements made to the park in the future related to health, safety, or accessibility. In those cases, the Rotary Clubs would have the ability to raise funding and potentially receive a matching grant for whatever the Clubs raised. Says Struempf, “This project has been important to the Rotary Clubs because it’s a way to contribute to the community on a regular basis.”

The project was approved for about 1.65 million dollars via the Special Purpose Tax 2018 Fund with an amendment approving just over 764 thousand dollars toward the project. These funds include an award from the federally funded Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) of approximately 466 thousand dollars. Wyoming’s LWCF project is administered by Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Grants Office. Using no taxpayer dollars, the LWCF invests earnings from offshore oil and gas leasing to help establish and improve parks and other outdoor recreation areas. 

Also included is just over $7,200 in park in-lieu fees from development in the area, which will allow for playground equipment, a shelter, a plaza, a dog park, site improvements, a restroom, and green space to be developed along with a crosswalk so that residents and visitors can cross Bill Nye Avenue safely to reach the park.

Construction on the park will begin in late August when Big Huhnks Excavation Inc. will start the project. On August 22, the City of Laramie, Laramie Rotary Clubs, and the Big Huhnks Excavation Inc. will be on site for a ‘golden shovel’ groundbreaking event for the new park. The event will begin at 9:00 AM and the public and media are invited to join.

For more information, please visit https://cityoflaramie.org/1191/Laramie-Rotary-Clubs-Park where the most up-to-date information on the park can be found.