Parks Month Spotlight: Veterans Park

Published: Thursday, July 13, 2023

Happy National Parks and Recreation Month!

This week, we look at Newcastle’s largest park, dedicated to those men and women who have served our nation – Veterans Park.

Just west of Highway 62 (Main Street), Veterans can be reached by taking NW 10th Street or NW 16th Street.

The park covers 90 acres of land in the heart of Newcastle in an area that was formerly the farmland of the Liston and Garrett families.

Veterans Park wasn't always this big. In fact, it wasn't till 2017 that the City purchased land west of the library. In 2019, the City was awarded a grant to build a new splashpad in Veterans Park. A year later, the City was cutting the ribbon on the newly-built splashpad.

"I'm excited to see the planning take shape to make our parks into a shared space that gives our residents a place to relax and stay healthy, and glad to see our city leaders continually improve the parks through grants and investment." -- Kyle Marks, Parks Director

Over the years, City staff and community members have been developing and focusing a master plan for Veterans Park. Phase 1 of the plan to add and improve trails has been under way since 2021. The City applied for a grant that allowed for the Phase 1 trail system.

New trails were added in the west section (New Veterans), then shortly after Phase 1, the City applied for another grant that allowed for the reconstruction of older east section (Old Veterans) and connected the two trail systems together.

While working on Phase 2 of the trails, our Street Department started to expand the large pond as well as building natural contours for a sledding hill!! In 2022, trails for Phase 1 and 2 were completed.

To make the trails feel more natural and add shade and comfort, the City is funding new trees each year.

The newly-formed Parks and Recreation Department is currently working to add mileage markers, and trail maps to our new walking trails. Earlier this year (2023), our Street Department completed work on a new parking lot south of 10th Street to help during events.

As the years move on, Veterans Park is going to continue to grow and change. We hope that all that visit the park enjoy the new improvements!