Boise Idaho Home Staging presented by Dawn Templeton

Although the field is mostly frozen, a bulldozer digs a pond in the shadow of the ParkCenter bridge. Next year, this former industrial logging site will be Boise's fifth-largest park.

"I think it's going to give us this incredible pathway," said Brian McDevitt, president of the Southeast Boise Neighborhood Association.

The park's pathways ultimately will connect Barber Park, over the ParkCenter bridge, to Eckert Road and back again.

"This should really cement a large protected area for wildlife," McDevitt said.

This winter, The Wetland Group is removing non-native species from the site and replacing them with native ones, park development coordinator Kelly Burrows said.

Rough grading is being done on the site now in preparation for laying topsoil, he said. By summer, cottonwoods and willows will be planted along the river as part of the greening of the riverbank, he said. Some trees will be transplanted this winter.

"Every willow on site will be reused on site," Burrows said.

Other trees that were taken out were chipped and reused, he said.

But the work is also helping protect the river from disaster.

While Walling Creek, which runs along the northern border of the park, is being structured for trout habitat - the city plans to apply for water rights to create that habitat - it also is being reconstructed to handle floodwaters as great as 2,000 cubic feet per second, Burrows said.

The core of the park will be the 2.6-acre Williams Pond, which will be stocked for public fishing. The herons already have started moving in, across the river from their usual haunt.

The park, the latest addition to Boise's "Ribbon of Jewels," was created in November 2005 when Larry Williams donated 70 acres in East Boise in honor of his wife, Marianne, on the condition it be developed into a park within five years.

The city received a one-year extension to deal with the economic downturn.

"The project is running out of money because it's being developed with impact fees, which come from new construction, and there is none," Burrows said. "Future development will be finished as money comes in."

Final completion of the park, including restrooms, shelters and play areas, will be dependent on an additional $1.8 million in funding.

The $7 million project is a public/private partnership between Boise and Brighton Corp. The city will contribute $5.8 million; Brighton $1.2 million, Burrows said.

In addition to the park, another 54 acres will be commercial development, although given the current market conditions, there is no timetable for that development yet, said Brighton Corp. project manager Jay Walker.

The road into the park, which will be accessible from the bridge, will be paved by the time the park opens, but it will dead-end in the park until Harris Ranch is further developed across the street, Walker said.

"We're hopeful in terms of impact fees," said City Council President Maryanne Jordan. "Hopefully, the bridge being open will kick-start some development. That was always the expectation."

Bethann Stewart: 377-6393