Wednesday is a really good day for MaryNell Larson, of Soldotna. That's when she heads with a friend to Soldotna Creek Park to enjoy the weekly market and music.
"I love it," she said. "Just to walk up and down, walk up and down, do whatever. Stand and watch the fishermen fish."
But she knows not everyone can get out and enjoy the a park like she can.
Larson used to live at Heritage Place — the hospital-operated long-term care facility in Soldotna. She said it made her sad that people with different physical abilities can’t enjoy the park because the trails there are made of gravel and aren’t accessible to people in wheelchairs or with mobility issues.
So she took her frustrations to the Heritage Place staff.
"They would love it if they could just go along the river and see what I saw today," she told them. "Can we do something?"
Now, more than three years later, the City of Soldotna is designing a network of ADA-accessible paved trails that will start at the parking lot at Soldotna Creek Park and go over to Homestead Lane, so that people of all abilities can access all the park has to offer — including the playground and the Wednesday market and concert series.
Aud Walaszek is the activity coordinator for Heritage Place. She said shortly after Larson came to her, she and other residents shared their vision with Soldotna City Manager Stephanie Queen at a community conversations lunch.
"And so that’s when it happened, is that the residents shared with her — we’ve got this great bus, but we can’t really get out of the bus onto the trails because the chairs and everything would get stuck on the gravel," she said. "So we can’t really participate in all of the wonderful things that happen over there."
John Czarnezki, director of economic development and planning for the cty, said the paved trails at Soldotna Creek Park are the first segment of the city’s project to make the area more ADA-compliant.
In addition to paving all the trails there, the city will create an ADA-compliant trail that extends from the park over to Homestead Lane, with another pathway that will connect Homestead Lane to an existing travelway on Lingonberry Lane.
"So really what this project does is connect the eastern part of Soldotna with the downtown," Czarnezki said.
He said the city successfully applied for funding for the project from a statewide grant through the Alaska Transportation Alternatives Program, with a letter of support from Heritage Place. That was back in 2019.
"So it’s been a bit of a long-time coming as far as getting the dollars," he said. "But we are now in the design phase, and we anticipate ground to be broken next year for the trail.
Walaszek said Heritage Place already has a program that gets residents and patients outside on scavenger hunts and for walks. But she said it’ll be especially meaningful to get folks out during the Wednesday markets, for example, when the park is bustling.
"An important thing to remember is that everyone inside here isn’t invisible," she said. "We are an active part of the community and we want to advocate — not only for the residents inside Heritage Place, but also for everybody in the community. And there’s a large number of people who would really benefit, and be able to enjoy the city and everything it has to offer more by this happening."
Larson — who's now 86 — said for her, getting out into the park is an instant mood-lifter.
"It makes me feel 10 years younger than I am," she said. "And that is a lift, for anyone."
She said it makes her so excited to think about taking her friends from Heritage Place out for a ride or a walk in the park so they can enjoy it like she does. She said the upgrades can’t come soon enough.
Czarnezki said he hopes the trails are completed by 2024.
