Improvements planned to North Pole park, borough seeks community feedback

NORTH POLE, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - Borough officials are looking for opinions on planned improvements to a North Pole park that are expected to make the locale a central feature of the community.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough held a public meeting Tuesday evening in North Pole to gather community feedback about the proposed changes to the 5th Avenue Park near North Pole Elementary School.

“This is a total refurbishment and redoing of the park that’s already there,” said Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins.

Calling North Pole and its surrounding area one of the fastest growing areas of the state, Hopkins emphasized the importance of having a place for families to spend time outdoors throughout the year.

“It’s a well-loved park, but it’s not as used as it could be,” he said, “what we’re hoping to do is make it a real attraction, a real centerpiece for the city of North Pole in many ways, for tourists and locals and students coming from elementary school after class.”

The borough still needs to make decisions about where a potential new playground would be placed.

“Do we want it on the west side, that’s away from parking but closer to water, or do we want it more on the east side, where it’s closer to parking but safer and away from the stream for kids playing?” Hopkins asked.

These and other questions were put before North Pole leaders and community members at Tuesday’s meeting, which was held at the North Pole Library.

“What we’re doing is making sure we’re taking public input first before we move forward with any designs,” the mayor explained.

The mayor heard from the community “how they like the circular walking path, how they want to keep wooded areas and some of the trails and the bridge connection to the elementary school.”

Ideas being tossed around for the park renovation include new paths, new playgrounds, a new design and connections between different parts of North Pole

Budgeted at just over $2 million, Hopkins expects the project to begin in 2027, after a few more open houses, outreach events and a design phase beginning during next winter.

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