Longmire Park might be in for a facelift in the near future, as the City of Yelm awaits a potential design for a park master plan.
According to the Yelm projects and programs manager Brad Chatwood, a master plan for Longmire Park would include lighting elements, a scoreboard for the football and soccer field, more ADA access in the park’s playground, increased field size for adult leagues and the addition of synthetic turf in areas of the ball fields.
Should those additions come to fruition, Chatwood said he doesn’t see why Longmire Park couldn’t serve as an athletic hub year-round.
“I think Longmire Park could be a shining star for the City of Yelm,” Chatwood said. “If we really were able to get this master plan done, I think those fields would be busy year round. I really think this could be huge for the City of Yelm and the community. It would basically be Yelm’s mini version of the RAC (Regional Athletic Center). Maybe someday we’re able to do something larger, down the road. For now, this is what we’ve got. Let’s work with it and see if we can get some leagues in there that give them the opportunity for more play at Longmire.”
Chatwood said the biggest priority in a potential master plan for the park would be fixing what he described as “serious drainage issues” in the park’s fields. The park previously upgraded the drainage in field two in 2022, and he noted the changes helped the outfield in that specific ballpark.
“If you spent any time out there at Longmire, you’ve probably noticed it gets pretty soggy when a little bit of rain comes,” Chatwood said. “Drainage is our number one concern because we have some really serious drainage issues out there. Really, we’re wanting a master plan design that will obviously have to be done in phases. I can see myself going after grants through RCO, maybe the public works board and just phasing these things out. Then maybe 10 years down the road, we’ve got it all complete, maybe not. Maybe there will be some phases left on the table, but this will get us to start moving in the right direction with Longmire Park.”
Chatwood added that RWD Landscape Architects has been selected to create the master plan design, adding he talked with the group on Thursday, March 28, to discuss the details.
“They’re going to start putting together a scope of work and a fee involved with that. We should see that in the next few weeks, and depending on that fee, we’ll see if we can move forward at this point, or if we need to hold back and look at some grants,” Chatwood said. “This is a long-term project.
“It’s not like a construction bid. We can’t ask how much their design will cost us,” he added. “We do have a little bit of money set aside for design, and like I said, until we get a scope and fee from our chosen designer, we don’t know what it’s going to cost us.”
If the Longmire Park master plan is implemented, the park could have additional access when the long-anticipated Yelm Loop project is complete, with the potential for a pathway between the two, Chatwood said.
He said he considers the master plan as a benefit to everyone, including residents, the City and maintenance employees, not to mention coaches and athletes within Yelm and throughout the region.
“Our head maintenance guy out there, Jerry Dahlburg, he is really good at what he does, but he can only do so much with what he’s got,” Chatwood said. “He’s a great turf guy, but you can only do so much. This would give him the opportunity to make that park just shine. We want to start moving in that direction.”
