Improvements keep coming to Marr Park

AINSWORTH — As the busiest stretch of summer winds down, a handful of modernization efforts are underway at Marr Park where Washington County Conservation officials say they plan to replace some of the oldest recreational equipment they own.

The improvements include a new basketball and pickleball court — for which crews poured concrete last week — as well as an updated playground, according to Washington County Conservation Director Zach Rozmus. The projects approach on the heels of a new shower house at the park, completed in 2024, which cost around $550,000.

“At our campground, we’ve hit record revenues for the last five years,” Rozmus said. “One of my big goals, as park director, I want to reinvest those revenues right back into the park experience … I think our experience is already pretty good here at Marr Park, and we can continue to make it better.”

Rozmus said the county also planned to install and fix up latrines and shelters at other parks in the near future, although Marr Park’s are by far the most visible to most recreationists.

The playground, he said, would represent a major change for park-goers. It’s planned with a brown and green palette and “natural look,” updating the decades-old structure currently visible from Highway 92.

“A lot of the equipment that was up there at the shower house was some of the oldest equipment we have. We had old swings, we had a glider that was up there, but this new one will definitely have a rejuvenated idea,” Rozmus said. “This new one will have swings, they’ll have what’s called a ‘jet-ski rider’ for the kids, it’ll have different slides … there’ll be creatures with fish and stuff incorporated into the design.”

The ball courts will have a polymer overlay on top of the concrete. Rozmus said the flooring would come with a customized color palette as well, and have some functional benefits for athletes.

“If you make any dives or try and save a ball going out of bounds or something, it’ll be a little more forgiving than concrete,” he said. “It’s going to be a really unique thing for Marr Park, when you drive by, it’s going to be something that’ll catch your eye and draws people into the park, hopefully.”

The department director said he hoped to have the new playground and ball courts finished sometime in September or October. He said the timeline could change at a moment’s notice, however, as contractors hunt down supplies and face international shipping challenges.

In total, the new recreational amenities are expected to cost around $150,000, half of which is covered by a grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation.

“It’ll be a really nice upgrade for the park, here,” Rozmus said.

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