SK Community Park gets a little TLC

South Kitsap Community Park received the careful attention of around 75 volunteers Wednesday during the 2007 Day of Caring.

Kitsap County Facilities Supervisor Brian Hauschel organized the volunteers throughout the park. Volunteers came from all over, including U.S. Navy Seabees, the United Way and assorted community members.

Kitsap County recently took over ownership of the park after long negotiations with the soon-to-be-defunct South Kitsap Parks and Recreation District board.

The board signed a quit-claim release form last week, officially handing over ownership, and will meet with a judge in the coming month to finalize dissolution of the board.

Just days after the ownership transfer, Hauschel dove into the park to clean up.

In all, the volunteers cleared trees and brush near the Lund Avenue entrance, increasing visibility and safety, rebuilt roofs over gazebos and repainted picnic tables.

“There’s just no visibility into the park,” Hauschel said.

Hauschel hopes that the improvements will not only increase the curb appeal of the park, but also make it a little safer.

The cleared brush opened the view between Lund Avenue and the interior of the park. Hauschel’s volunteers took the removed material, ran it through a wood chipper and spread it over trails in the park.

On the Jackson Avenue side of the park, the Seabees built new roofs on top of the gazebos, while volunteers from the Kitsap Credit Union repainted the picnic benches.

“With our volunteers, we’re just trying to make as big a splash as we can,” Hauschel said.

He added that the park’s features are good, and make the improvement easy.

“This is a great infrastructure for us to get started on,” Hauschel said.

Starting in July, Hauschel hopes to improve the baseball fields.

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