Progress made at new Kellogg park
A bulldozer spreads 'clean' soil and gravel over the top of a recently installed fabric barrier at Kellogg's Mountain View Park. The park is expected to be open next spring.
Courtesy photo
KELLOGG — Ongoing work between Kellogg and Smelterville has many residents curious, but for local government and city officials, it marks the realization of a project 10 years in the making.
More than 25 years ago, the city of Kellogg acquired the area known as East Smelterville Flats, located north of Interstate 90 and just east of the old drive-in movie theater, according to Kellogg Mayor Rod Plank. For decades, the land remained undeveloped with no concrete plans for its use.
Through a long process involving the National Park Service, Idaho Parks and Recreation, the Kellogg School District, and the city of Kellogg, Mountain View Park was established on this property in 2015, Plank said.
“While not widely known, the park has been open to the public and used primarily by residents looking for a safe area, away from traffic, to walk and to exercise," Plank said.
Recently, the Department of Environmental Quality approached the city with a plan for remediation of the property.
As the 2025 construction season draws to a close, the 14.5-acre park is in the midst of its second phase of development. This phase includes clearing contaminated soil and laying down fresh gravel, a fabric barrier, and clean soil seeded with a clover mix.
The future park sits less than a quarter mile from the site of the former Bunker Hill Mine smelting plant, squarely within the Bunker Hill Superfund Site. It was fenced off last year as part of the project’s first phase, which also included a layer of clean gravel along the park’s access road.
Construction crews continue to work at Mountain View Park as the season nears its end.
According to Andy Helkey with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the project is expected to be completed, at least on the re-remediation side, next spring, when concrete pads and gravel walking paths are installed.
“That brings us to the current status of the park, which is now in the final stages of remediation, including the addition of fencing,” Plank said. “In the not-too-distant future, a limited number of concrete pads with picnic tables will be added, and as use of the park evolves and increases, additional amenities will be considered.”