Work Near on East Clayton Community Park

Work is expected to begin this summer on a new 60-acre park on Glen Laurel Road in East Clayton that will greatly expand the town's recreational facilities.

The design of the new East Clayton Community Park is being finalized this month, and officials intend to have the project ready for competitive bids in April.

"We want to move ahead with construction as quickly as we can to take advantage of falling construction prices," said Mayor Jody McLeod. "This is going to be a park we can all be proud of."

The new park will be built in two phases. The first phase of construction includes:

• A regulation-size soccer field that may have synthetic turf instead of natural grass if costs permit. By installing synthetic turf, the field will be able to handle a large amount of use, much more than a grass field would allow. Play could begin there earlier, too, since installing turf is quicker than getting a grass field into playing condition.

• A regulation-size baseball field

• Two large open-use spaces

• A mile-long walking trail around the park

• A youth playground

• Two picnic pavilions

• Preservation of woodland and wetland areas

Construction is expected to take at least a year, with the grass fields needing additional time for the turf to get established.

The first phase of construction is being financed with a $1.8 million share of the $4 million bond issue for parks approved by voters in a referendum two years ago. A $475,000 County grant is also available for the park.

The second phase of construction, which has not yet been funded, will include additional trail areas, a disc golf course and possibly a challenge course.

The town is also planning to build an off-leash dog park across the street from the park.