A pair of Mercer Island Capital Improvement Program project managers delved into nine projects that reside on the city’s docket for this year at a recent meeting.

Paul West and Sarah Bluvas met virtually with the Parks and Recreation Commission on Feb. 2 to present a projects update, which includes four construction designs at various sections of the Luther Burbank Park landscape and waterscape.

On the park’s dock and waterfront improvements front — which carries a $7,525,600 budget — West said they expect to complete construction in 2024 or early 2025. The robust project has been in the works since 2020.

“An issue that we’re having right now is addition of fire suppression requirements that we’ve uncovered during permitting,” West said.

According to a previous Reporter story, the docks concept design overview includes renovating the north pier, installing new breakwater/small powerboard moorage and a new non-motorized dock while reusing the existing float.

West said that phase one construction on the park’s waterfront boiler building is expected to be completed by the close of 2023. The budget on that complicated project — which features stabilization of the building and chimney plus new roof installation — stands at $2,012,300.

“It involves a lot of interior work that constructs a steel structural frame to hold the building in case of an earthquake,” West said.

Completing the Luther Burbank projects are the south shoreline restoration and tennis court renovation and pickleball conversion. The shoreline project ($575,000 budget) will feature installation of gravel and logs and relocation of the pedestrian trail between the dock and swim beach. Over at the courts ($545,000 budget), Bluvas said that project will entail repaving and resurfacing of the shared facility.

“One element we still need to resolve is whether or not to continue this as a shared-use facility with pickleball and tennis courts or convert it solely to a pickleball facility,” Bluvas said of the King County Parks grant-funded project. Anticipated construction completion for this project is the second quarter of 2024; for the shoreline design, it’s slated to be finished by the close of 2023.

Other projects — all of which are overseen by the Public Works department and supervised by Clint Morris — that West and Bluvas highlighted at the meeting were: Aubrey Davis Park trail safety improvements ($385,000), Island Crest Park ballfield upgrades for backstops and turf ($400,000), Deane’s Children’s Park playground partial replacement design for the castle, swings and climbing rock equipment ($226,000), Clarke and Groveland beach joint master plan ($200,000) and the Bike Skills Area at Deane’s ($302,500).

The American Ramp Company’s proposed Bike Skills Area design features table-top jumps, an elevated tunnel, wooden berm turn, beginner and intermediate jump lines, a gate between the facility and the children’s playground and more, reads a previous Reporter article.

In all, there are 23 park, recreation, open space and trail projects in the 2023-2024 budget.

For information on the full list of the city’s Capital Improvement Program projects underway, visit https://www.mercerisland.gov/community/page/capital-improvement-program