Where the ‘city in motion’ is headed in 2024

* Landscaping near the ramadas at the Hayden Walton Memorial Sports Complex. Also at the sports complex, there’s going to be increased parking on Pope Street. The city plans to push the sidewalk in for more street space and add angled parking to accommodate the many visitors at the park. At the skate park, the city is going to add gravel parking and a pickleball court. The pickleball court will be located next to the tennis courts. Although it will replace some current parking spaces, the reduction will be minimal once the pickleball court is installed. Next to the skate park, the basketball courts are also going to get some upgrades. The city was looking into rubberized, all-weather materials for the courts instead of concrete but it was a bit out of the city’s budget. The courts will still receive new paint, hoops and walls to separate them. The city initially planned to lay new concrete for the dugouts at the sports complex, however, due to the current price of concrete, that plan will be pushed to 2025.

The city also plans to replaster and refinish the outdoor pool in time for summer. It’s been a long time since its last upgrade, and the aim is to start this project in early spring to finish before the pool’s official opening in May so residents can enjoy the new upgrades as soon as possible.

Other developments outside of the capital projects include upgrades to Triangle, Henderson and Coopertown Parks. Those require federal funding as it is already past the state level of funding. The state has submitted it for federal funding so the city is waiting on that federal approval before making the upgrades. However, Coolidge is pretty sure that the money will be made available to the city for these upgrades.

Another major concern for the city is providing proper and affordable housing amidst the current housing price challenges. One project is the Habitat for Humanity’s agreement with the city, which will entail the city allowing Habitat for Humanity to build homes for low-income families on city-owned land. The project would allow participants to move into one of these homes and pay a monthly rent that they will be returned when they move out to be put towards a down payment on a permanent home. This program may be many people’s only path to homeownership, and the city is very excited about this collaboration with the nonprofit and thinks it will open a lot of doors for citizens.

According to Coolidge, “There are several developers currently looking at developing housing near and around Winslow.” These developers are interested in a wide spectrum of residential housing, including apartments, RV parks, tiny homes, low-income housing and duplexes. With these many housing developments, it gives the opportunity for people to move here for work, as well as hopefully reducing the burden residents face paying the high prices that they have grown used to over the last few years because of the lack of housing in the area.

For the $100 million Levee Project, the city anticipates very little movement on this project in 2024, besides planning and getting ready for development that should begin towards the end of 2025. Coolidge said, “By the end of this year, we expect to continue planning. Also, I hope in this year we can channelize the river to direct it away from the levee, as well as do some salt cedar removal.” Coolidge wanted to clarify that the levee is for protection, in case of major flooding they do not want water up against a levee unless it’s an emergency, and that’s why they will channel the river accordingly.

The city is also in the middle of building a new public library, and there were a few snags along the way, however, Coolidge said, “It won’t have any effect on when the library should be finished.” The snags include a gas line that was thought to already be in place, but wasn’t but a gas line has been added. The biggest hurdle was that the ground beneath where the library will sit is largely rock where the city thought it would be mostly dirt. This has made excavation and other parts of the building process require a bit more resources but the construction still plans to be finished in either October or November of this year.

The city is also moving into a new city hall. They will move from the building on First Street to the old Lee Medical building on the corner of Kinsley Avenue and Third Street. This puts the city hall more front and center, instead of back and off to the side from the main parts of downtown. There is a little bit of interior work that still needs to be done but the staff should be able to begin moving in April. According to Coolidge, “Admins and finance will move to the new building, and public works, transit, and community development will stay in the old city hall.”

Around downtown, the city also plans on putting more parking spaces on First Street as well as public restrooms on Kinsley Avenue and First Street near the parking lot the city already owns.

Coolidge also spoke about the next steps with the city’s adoption of its general plan. He said, Jason Sanks, the city’s planning and zoning officer, is currently working hard to incorporate the many comments that were given by citizens and is creating a new draft of the plan that works better for residents. Although a public hearing has not been announced at this time, there will be a public hearing for the new draft, and The Tribune will update the public as the information becomes available.

“No matter what, the city is going to grow,” Coolidge said. The city staff is excited about the increased opportunities on the horizon for its residents and a future of growth. Winslow has long been called the city in motion but the speedometer seems to read faster than it ever has before.