Kenai will seek up to $250,000 in federal money to replace Old Town Park's playground

The Kenai City Council on Wednesday approved applying for up to $250,000 in federal money to replace the playground at Old Town Park, a 1.11-acre neighborhood park the city says needs accessibility and facility improvements.

Mayor Henry Knackstedt said the park has been there since he was a little boy. "There's a lot of multifamily housing around there where children are, and I think it's important to the city," he said.

The money would come from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which the National Park Service runs with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The grants are competitive, and the city must match every grant dollar with one of its own. About $1.5 million is expected to be available statewide this round, according to the resolution, enough for six awards at the $250,000 maximum.

A grant would not make the project bigger. Kenai's capital plan, which City Manager Terry Eubank said will be reviewed again this year, counts on $800,000 in city money to replace the playground, with design in fiscal 2027 and construction in fiscal 2028. A grant would cover part of that cost.

Residents backed replacing the park's equipment while the city wrote its 2026 parks master plan, according to the resolution. The Kenai Parks and Recreation Commission recommended the application Oct. 1, and the city has asked the Kenaitze and Salamatof tribes for letters of support.

The grant comes with a lasting string. Land improved with Land and Water Conservation Fund money has to stay in outdoor recreation, and city staff told the council that makes using it for anything else "very difficult, if not impossible." The city's soccer fields on the way out of town were built with the same fund. Staff said that commitment comes only if the city accepts an award, not with Wednesday's vote. If Kenai wins a grant, staff said they believed it would have about three years to finish the work.

No one from the public spoke, and the council adopted the resolution by unanimous consent.