Some of the smaller parks in Minot were hit hard by last summer's flood, just like Oak Park and Roosevelt Park were, and are in various stages of repair.
Of the smaller parks flooded were Green Valley Park on the east side, Moose Park in the southwest part of Minot, Riverside Park on the alley south of Cortland Drive, Nubbin Park in the northwest part of Minot, and Leach Park on the 2400 block of Second Avenue Southwest.
Ron Merritt, director of parks, said the flood damaged the playgrounds, picnic shelters, restrooms, tennis and basketball courts of the smaller parks, the same type of damage that the larger parks sustained. The playgrounds were under water, but have since been cleaned and new grass has been seeded, he said.The park district is still working on adding wood chips for the playgrounds, too, and with the exception of Leach Park, all of the smaller flooded parks will be ready and open very soon, Merritt added.
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Moose Park, at 400-9th St. SW, was one of the smaller parks in the district flooded last summer, and one of the most popular due to its picnic shelter that’s rented out almost every day each summer. Moose Park is nearly ready for use again. The smaller parks sustained much of the same damage as Oak Park and Roosevelt Park.
"We're pretty close to having the small parks finished," he said.
A new playground was purchased for Leach Park last year, but they didn't get it installed because of the flood, Merritt explained. Once the playground is installed, Leach Park will be almost ready for use. They're waiting for the grass to grow in at Leach Park and Moose Park, too, he said.
The park district will also need to resurface the tennis court at Riverside Park because it's in bad condition, Merritt noted.
Merritt said it's hard to determine which park of the smaller parks is the most popular or the most used, but he thought Green Valley and Leach receive the most usage. He said Moose Park is also popular because of its picnic shelter. "Moose Park is rented nonstop all summer," he noted.
There aren't any plans to close any of the small parks, Merritt said, since every park space is needed with the way the city is growing.
There are, however, plans to build possibly two small parks in expanding areas of town, Merritt said. The park district is working with a couple of developers to do so, with one park located in the northwest part of town, on the side of 21st Avenue beyond the bypass, and the other located north of the airport by the National Guard Armory.
Merritt said the park district is also in the process of making project updates to Radio City Park, even though it wasn't flooded.
"We might look at ways of expanding a park's use, but we're just in the discussion stage about it at this time," Merritt said.