Twisp town parks: an inventory
- Twisp Park, 6 acres, including the Wagner Memorial Pool, band shell, picnic shelter, basketball courts, playground, parking lot, river access, kids’ playground, open space. Recommendation is for an overall master plan for the park.
- Twisp Commons Park, 29,000 square feet, a “passive park with native plantings and sculptures” used for “community gatherings, market overflow and picnics, and repose,” adjacent to the Methow Valley Community Center.
- Maves Memorial Park, 4,500 square feet, open space with bench. Recommendation is to add benches and/or a picnic table, small play structure or swing, artwork, and mural on an adjacent building.
- Twisp Sports Complex, 10.1 acres with playing fields for baseball and soccer. Recommendations include adding a skate park and/or pump track, ski trail and off-leash dog area. Could be considered as the site of a valley-wide recreation and aquatics center.
Twisp residents can comment on a draft revision of the town’s comprehensive parks and recreation plan by email, in writing or during a virtual meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission on April 25.
The Parks and Recreation Commission — a five-member volunteer advisory group — was directed by the Town Council to come up with an updated comprehensive plan for an integrated recreation experience within the town and connections beyond. The draft plan expands dramatically on the existing 2014 plan, was presented to the council last October.
The commission has stressed that it is eager for public feedback and participation in refining and implementing the plan.
Goals include:
- maintaining existing facilities and creating new ones where “appropriate and sustainable,” with recommended actions including hiring of a season maintenance person, organizing a volunteer work corps to help with maintenance, determining whether to repair or replace the band shell in Twisp Park, building an outdoor climbing/bouldering structure in Twisp Park, building a skate park and/or pump tack near Twisp Park or elsewhere, and developing river access points that may include signage, trail linkage, pocket parks and/or boat launches and ramps. The plan also advocates for building a recreation center to expand indoor options.
- developing new and existing trails systems and pedestrian connectors, in part dependent on establishing formal agreements for easements and rights-of-way where necessary.
- encouraging more year-round use of existing facilities, including development of a ski trail at the sports complex.
- developing a stable source of funding for rec facilities region-wide, which could include working with other local community groups to study creation of a recreation district.
The draft plan also includes suggestions for possible funding sources, and time lines for developing major projects. The plan also includes potential improvements at each of the town’s existing park sites. Those include Twisp Park, Maves Memorial Park and the sports complex.
For more information, go to www.townoftwisp.com/index.php/recreation/twisp-park-gallery to find both a summary and a complete copy of the draft. Comments may be submitted in writing to deputyclerk@townoftwisp.com, or mailed to Town of Twisp, P.O. Box 278, Twisp WA 98856.
Ride the routes
If you would like an informal tour of some of the bike routes proposed in the draft Twisp Parks and Recreation Plan, join a group on Saturday, April 23, starting at 12:30 p.m. from Twisp Park on North Lincoln Street. Email lurline.sweet@gmail.com for more information. For ages 12 and older. If you can’t meet up that day, find information about the route at https://tinyurl.com/TwispParksandRec.
The Parks and Recreation Commission meeting begins at 4 p.m. on April 25. Visit www.townoftwisp.com for information on how to access the meeting, or call Town Hall at (509) 997-4081.
