We recognize the public would like to see Orono Park open for use. We share in this anticipation! We have roughly three-weeks of work that requires the majority of the park amenities to remain closed.
We are hoping for a partial opening of many of the new features around the beginning of July including the beach area, restrooms, and splash pad. This will allow for improved initial turf establishment as the current germination stage is extremely sensitive. Trampling the new seed now, will only prolong the timeline to get the park to its desired condition.
As Orono Park is nears completion and we begin taking down some of the fencing and barricades, it remains challenging to keep would-be users out of the full park. We ask anyone who does visit the area to remain on paved surfaces when viewing the new amenities, and be mindful that the only features currently open to users are the skateboard park, dog recreation area and playground.
We will continue to provide updates as the final work progresses on the city's Facebook page, the Elk River Parks and Recreation page, as well as at ActiveElkRiver.com.
Update: June 11, 2022
Orono Park continues to be technically under the supervision and construction of the general contractor, New Look. The city will not take control of the park until all construction is completed. While the skateboard park was almost entirely completed last fall, we still have punch list items on this portion of the project that are being addressed to the satisfaction of the city.
The main delays on construction are related to the pickleball court and the splash pad. The pickleball court design continues to be under dispute with the designer and we hope to come to a final solution on this very soon. The splash pad and the restroom building are delayed because of the plumbing permit required to be signed off on by the State of Minnesota. The splash pad requires two permits from the State of Minnesota – a health permit which was acquired and a plumbing permit.
The splash pad and the restroom building require separate plumbing permits, per the State of Minnesota. These two facilities are under two different subcontractors but need to be connected to the same water line. When the city found that no progress has been made on the plumbing permit, the city got involved to work directly with both the plumber and the State to coordinate the required permits. We hope to see progress on the splash pad in the next few weeks and are waiting to hear back from the State – which can take anywhere from two to six weeks.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to work toward completion of Orono Park's beautiful upgrades.