COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — For Gwen Owens, Cochran Park has made a 180-degree transformation. She said before its recent renovations, the area wasn’t maintained.
“They re-did this whole area and it is just delightful to come over here,” she said. “It's so well kept.”
Owens lives nearby and brings her family to the park just about every day since the renovations.
The park now has upgraded playground areas, old tennis courts were converted into pickleball courts. A new baseball field was added and a basketball court also saw upgrades.
The new playgrounds cost $400,000 while the converted pickleball court improvements cost an additional $70,000. The Council Bluffs Parks and Rec Department worked with Powertech, an electric service provider to finance some of the upgrades.
Director Vincent Martorello said these changes will be coming to other parks across the city, and that Cochran Park was picked first because of its location just off the First Avenue Trail.
“[The Trail] brings a lot of traffic to this park and the park really serves as a nice stopover for families as well traveling from the river to points eastward,” Martorello said.
In addition to the park, the First Avenue Trail also got a refresh along the section bordering the park. A ribbon cutting is set for 11 a.m. at the park with a bigger celebration planned Friday evening.
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