Work on New Franklin Park Pavilion to Get Underway

Thanks to major fundraising efforts by Yakima's Sunrise Rotary Club, construction is set to begin next week on a pavilion at Franklin Park valued at $200,000, which will serve as a home for family picnics and community events as well as a stage for the City’s summer concert series, the Yakima Folklife Festival, etc.

The Yakima Sunrise Rotary Club is covering the entire cost of the project. A groundbreaking ceremony for the pavilion will take place on Tuesday, Mar. 5 at 1:00 p.m. at the construction site, which is located just north of the Yakima Valley Museum in Franklin Park.

“The new pavilion will be an absolutely wonderful addition to Franklin Park,” said Yakima Parks and Recreation Manager Ken Wilkinson. “We are so grateful to be able to partner with the Sunrise Rotary Club on a project that will help make what is already a great park even better.”

The brainchild of Sunrise Rotary member Howard Moore, the new pre-engineered 30-foot by 40-foot pavilion structure replaces a smaller shelter that was in poor condition and in need of repair. That structure was removed last November and will undergo renovation work before being installed in another City park in the future. Construction of the new pavilion should be completed in about two months.

The pavilion will be covered and will feature basalt columns, which will serve as a backdrop when the pavilion is used as a performance venue. A patio made of concrete pavers will be located in front of the pavilion itself and will not be covered. The overall design of the plaza and surrounding amenities was overseen by Sunrise Rotary member and local architect Sheri Brockway. The Yakima Sunrise Rotary Club Pavilion at Franklin Park joins a growing list of improvements to Yakima parks funded by local service clubs. Kiwanis Park, in specific, has benefited tremendously in recent years from service club donations that have help build a skate park, a playground, basketball courts, new ball fields, and more.