STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Kiwanis Club members and representatives of the City of Hailey went out to stage a groundbreaking Monday night. But the contractors beat them to the punch.

Contractors had already dug the hole in Hop Porter Park for the foundation of the park’s new permanent stage, which will sit 28 inches off the ground and will feature electrical service for bands.  A cinderblock wall will comprise the back side.

“The way the labor market is now I guess you’ve got to take advantage of the contractors when you can get them,” said Bob Wiederrick, a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club.

The hole is ready for concrete.

The stage, which will be used for the Hailey Rocks summer concert series and other events, will feature a concrete base. The first phase is being built this fall with the help of a $25,000 grant from the Wood River Women’s Foundation and $10,000 from the aluminum cans Wiederrick began collecting at his Custom Metalworks shop near Power Engineers in Hailey 10 years ago.

Phase two will include a tipped shed roof and will be built when the club can raise more money, Wiederrick said. “So, we’ll be looking for some grant funding opportunities for that.”

A couple cottonwood trees were removed to make room for the stage, which sits where the temporary  stage for the Northern Rockies Folk Festival sat 25 years ago.

“The summer concert series is pretty popular so it will be nice not to have to be bringing in a temporary stage,” said Wiederrick. “And Hailey doesn’t have any kind of outdoor public stages in its other parks.”

Bellevue artist David Rau has worked all summer on refurbishing the playground equipment at Hop Porter Park.

The Kiwanis Club has about 20 members. In addition to raising money through aluminum cans, they make money from selling concessions at the Sawtooth Rangers Days of the old West Rodeo over Fourth of July.

Even as the brief groundbreaking ceremony took place, Bellevue artist David Rau continued his work sanding the wooden playground equipment across the park.

The City of Hailey is spending about $50,000 to refurbish the playground equipment, said Hailey Mayor Martha Burke. Volunteers from Kiwanis, Cathy Schiers’ church group and other organizationss have painted benches and other parts in bright blues, yellows, reds and greens.

The playground equipment was installed in 1998 as part of a community effort spearheaded by a mother who had lost her son, said Geegee Lowe, a member of the Kiwanis club.

David Rau says he likely will be back next summer to finish up what didn’t get refurbished this year.

“There’s a lot more maintenance involved with wood structures,” said Wiederrick. “You have to keep on top of them.”

This is the Kiwanis Club’s 10th year of improving parks. It has enhanced six of them, beginning with the Deerfield Park and including Foxmoor and Keefer parks. The Kiwanis Club built a picnic pavilion at Balmoral Park, which has since been renamed Kiwanis Park.