Newly renovated 38-acre Pierce County park reopens with dog park, bike trails
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wards Lake Park reopens Dec. 10 with new trails after nearly year-long closure.
- Improvements total $6.3 million across two phases, adding playgrounds and pump track.
- City cleared invasives, added a south entrance and built a fenced off-leash dog park.
After closing for nearly a year, the 38-acre Wards Lake Park in Lakewood will reopen to the public with highly-anticipated upgrades on Wednesday, Dec. 10, park staff confirmed.
Among the new features of the park (2716 84th St. Ct. S.) are two new playgrounds, a new fenced off-leash dog park, paved trails and bridges, a concrete pump track, a new restroom, 3.5 acres of mountain bike trails and a mountain bike skills track. A grand opening will happen in the spring.
On a tour Friday, The News Tribune saw construction crews at work finishing welding projects on new handrails. This year crews cleared invasive species from over half of the site, making space for new trails and more recreational opportunities, said parks development project manager Stacey Reding.
The park was historically overgrown, which felt uninviting and encouraged nuisance activity, Reding said. Now residents should notice significant improvements, in addition to another entrance on the south side of the park on 25th Avenue Court South, she said.
“This is definitely the largest [park] development that’s occurred” in Lakewood recently, Reding said. “Some people don’t even realize there’s a park back here … the unrealized potential has now been realized.”
The improvements were completed in two phases, which cost $6.3 million, she said. The city used about $2.4 million of its funds to pay for the project and $3.9 million in grants, Reding said.
A third phase would involve developing 10.5 acres of land the city acquired in 2023 to expand trails and allow the city more ease in maintaining the site, according to the city’s capital park projects website.
Park hours are 7 a.m. to sunset, Reding said.
