BOZEMAN — Monday afternoon at 3 p.m., Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club and the City of Bozeman held a groundbreaking ceremony at Glen Lake Rotary Park, better known as Bozeman Beach.
Glen Lake Rotary Park used to be a gravel pit and city dump until Bozeman Sunrise Rotary worked with the city throughout the 1990s to turn that land into a park. Since then, they’ve cleaned the area, added the beach, volleyball courts, pavilions, and more.
Monday's groundbreaking marked the beginning of new construction at the park that will include a south entrance near NorthWestern Energy, as well as an additional parking lot.
This project has been in the works for around six years.
Robert Farrington, Co-Chair of the Glen Lake Rotary Park Committee tells me, “This is tremendous. We’ve been going to so many public meetings and hearings and talking to people. It finally feels like we’re getting something done from all of our efforts.”
This project costs nearly half a million dollars. Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club is covering two-thirds of the cost and took out a loan of $150,000. The City of Bozeman covered the other third of the cost.
Since the park’s opening, there has only been one entrance, which Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club says is a safety hazard. Danielle Scharf, a design engineer for this park improvement project tells me, “We’ll provide a continuous connection directly from Manley Road into the park. We’re also adding a paved parking lot with ADA-accessible parking and multiple pathways that will enhance the bike and pedestrian access into the park, which I think will be a real key to the community”.
Glen Lake Rotary Park will still be open throughout construction. Paving is expected to be finished before the 4th of July, and open to the public by the end of July.
