McEuen opens Saturday

COEUR d'ALENE - It has been several years in the making, but finally all of McEuen Park will be open to the public Saturday.

According to Keith Erickson, spokesman for the city of Coeur d'Alene, community leaders will dedicate the park at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The city has planned a small celebration that will include comments from dignitaries, a free lunch, live music and a ribbon-cutting.

The events will be held at Grand Staircase near the main entrance to the park at Fourth Street and Front Avenue.

The city is anticipating hundreds of people to attend and the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with highs in the low- to mid-70s, Erickson wrote in a press release.

The new splash pad will be charged and operational for the dedication.

"This will be a wonderful day for the entire community to come together and celebrate an amazing public gathering spot that will showcase our beautiful downtown for generations to come," said Bill Greenwood, acting city parks director.

While the east end of the park has been open since May 2, the central and western portions of the park will be opened Saturday.

The newly opened features will include the Grand Pavilion, Veterans Memorial, Grand Plaza, Harbor House and Sea Wall Overlook.

Work will continue however on the 4-acre amphitheater area in the middle of the park. More area still needs to be hydro-seeded and will remain fenced off until the new grass takes root.

Greenwood said that area could be open sometime in August.

Speakers at the dedication will include Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer, former Mayor Sandi Bloem and Denny Davis, chairman of the board for the Lake City Development Corp.