One of the benefits of living in Boise is the number and quality of our parks. Mayor McLean has established a goal of having a Boise park within a 10-minute safe walk of all Boise Citizens. For many of us in the Centennial Neighborhood , McDevitt is that park.
McDevitt is one of only three parks within the boundaries of the Centennial Neighborhood Association, but it’s a nice one. The park includes:
Norm’s Pond, a 1.2-acre fishing pond
the 10,000 Sq. ft. McMillan skate park
2 children’s play structures
7 groomed and fenced ball fields complete with tall backstops, foul line markers, batting cages, covered dugouts with water fountains, bleachers, league storage sheds, a concession stand and restrooms
parking
a walking path around most of the perimeter
There are also a few small, old backstops with wooden benches in the unfinished area that might have once been softball fields.
However, about a quarter of the park in the NE corner is unfinished.
5101 N. Eagle Rd. Boise, ID 83713
Parcels S0529449100 (20 acres), + S0529449353 (17.96 acres) = 37.96 acres
Approx 7.59 acres is undeveloped.
This piece of the city was annexed in 1999 and by 2001 much of the park was completed. In the 2013 master plan about a quarter of the park was designated to be lacrosse fields in a partnership with a local lacrosse association. When this initiative didn’t come to fruition the park was left unfinished.
Now, the Boise Parks and Recreation Department and the Centennial Neighborhood Assn. would like to move forward and complete the park.
There is Impact Fee money in the Capital Improvement Plan available. Since the 2013 master plan is so old, a new plan will need to be developed and we have a clean slate to work with. What would the residents of Boise and the Centennial Neighborhood Assn. envision for the future of McDevitt Park? Lacrosse? A BMX jump track? More shade trees, picnic areas, complete the walking path to Eagle Rd. ? Pickle ball? A much-needed library for west Boise!
Let’s get ready. Please send your suggestions and comments to the Centennial Neighborhood Assn. at centennialnaboise@gmail.com.
Or leave your comments below:
It would be wonderful to finish the park now. I’ve heard several ideas including pickle ball courts and a cycling jump track.
I see areas for pickleball (West YMCA), baseball, soccer, football and lacrosse (YMCA, Cottonwood Park, Lowell Scott MS), at our nearby parks, but I do not see a library anywhere nearby. The undeveloped land at McDevitt Park would be a fabulous location for a city library.
Another idea for McDevitt Park. How about a Frisbee Golf Course?
Disc golf is awesome 🙂 There is a possibility for that, but it would probably need to go around the park. Designing disc golf courses is complicated because you have to be careful about not hitting people walking nearby. Golf courses don’t have this problem as they have one purpose: to be a golf course.
Finishing the path for sure, that’s an easy one. Improving the skate park. Getting rid of the fence backstops in the field to the east and preparing it as a practice football field. I’d love a jump track but I think a football practice field would be used more, including for futbol.
I love the idea of a library and a jump track, especially if the jump track has different ability levels. I think it would enhance the existing skate park to have the jump track as well.
The library would get some great traffic being in a park!
It would be so nice to have a library at this closer location!
Trees and picnic space. Settlers park is a good example of using space well. Courts and pathway and picnic areas
We are in desperate need of a dog park. You can see evidence of dogs being in that Park all year long even though it’s restricted. We need somewhere close by that we can walk to with our dogs for them to enjoy some much-needed off leash time. All other dog parks you have to drive to. And trust me these neighborhoods are full of dogs. Nothing worse than walking on the Outer Perimeter of that park with your dog and actually getting stopped by the police making sure that you’re not going to step foot in there with your dog during non-dog months. My second suggestion would be pickleball courts. As everyone knows it’s the number one growing sport in the nation and again all courts are ones that you need to drive to. The closest would be the ones at the YMCA which are quite popular and busy all the time.
We would definitely like to see the walking path completed and more trees planted. A splash pad/spray park for kids would be wonderful to add next to the playground area. Pickleball courts would be nice and a library would be useful to us as well.
In addition to the walking path being completed, I would love to see this area become either a library, pickle ball courts or a splash pad area.
Looking at the map, we’re wondering if there might be enough space (along with the walking path) to have two-way access connecting the two parking lots. If the McMillan lot was full it would be nice to have easy access to the other parking lot on Eagle.