Jan. 15—More than 100 members of the public filled the Elks Lodge in Marysville on Saturday for a community meeting that sought feedback on the future of Ellis Lake, a major landmark of the city that has for decades needed a modern overhaul.

Originally designed by John McLaren in 1924, much of the 7.5-acres of green space surrounding the 32-acres of the man-made lake was built by the Works Progress Administration near the end of the Great Depression in 1939. According to the city, it was later remodeled in the 1970s.

Since that time, however, many of the features of the lake have been left relatively unchanged. Now, after receiving two major grants, one a beverage recycling grant and the other a Clean California Grant, the city is looking to transform the space in and around the lake to not only encourage more recreational opportunities but also continue the economic development momentum officials have been pushing for the past couple of years.

To achieve the change that is necessary and put the city in a better position for more grants, the city is developing an Ellis Lake Master Plan.

“There is $3 million in grant funding to do portions of it (Ellis Lake green space), certainly not the entire thing,” Marysville City Manager Jim Schaad said Saturday. “One of the reasons we’re doing this master plan and getting at least conceptual drawings to a certain point, is to pursue additional grant funding. Most of the granting agencies nowadays prefer to have what’s called a ‘shovel-ready project,’ meaning it’s pretty well designed and can be implemented right away. So this is positioning us for that, as well as allowing us to make sure that the work we’re going to do with the $3 million is consistent with the plan for the overall lake.”

According to Jessamyn Lett, a landscape architect who is playing a major role in the development of the plan, the beverage recycling grant will allow the city to add more trash and recycling bins as well as water bottle filling stations and drinking fountains.

The grant that will play the biggest role in jumpstarting the revitalization of the area around the lake will be the Clean California Grant, a $2.9-million award announced by Caltrans in October 2023. Lett said this grant “focuses specifically on Ellis Lake phase one improvements.”

According to the Clean California Grant language, it is intended for Ellis Lake enhancements that will seek to add new recreational features, renovate the walking path around the lake, and add amenities to beautify Ellis Lake Park, the Appeal previously reported.

“Six new recreation features will include three play pockets for children, an event island, fishing areas, park and trail signage, and public art and sculptures,” Caltrans said in its announcement of the grant last year.

Lett said the Clean California Grant focus for the north portion of the lake, north of 14th street, will be to replace the walking path, repave the parking lot, add accessibility, enhance islands for events and rentals, add fishing and play areas, add more shade and a drinking fountain, and replace lights.

City officials have said that the lake and the surrounding green space will play a major role in the city’s economic development push, including the incoming Hyatt Hotel along B Street, Bryant Park and possible apartment or residential units on or around the major city landmark.

“The city desires to improve amenities at Ellis Lake in order to develop a regional recreation and tourism venue, provide residents with high quality outdoor recreation activities and promote development/redevelopment in the area,” the city previously said in a staff report. “Staff recommends development of a master plan for the lake green space that will provide a conceptual layout and identify features and amenities that would support recreational and economic activity in the surrounding area.”

With this vision in mind, the city invited the public on Saturday to a community meeting to receive feedback on what features residents would like to see and how they would like them to look.

After a presentation by Lett, in which she and Schaad also took questions from citizens, members of the public walked around the Elks Lodge auditorium to view and vote on certain features that are being considered for the green space of Ellis Lake.

Presented on large poster boards, there were stations placed around the room for those in attendance to discuss and provide input for what they would like the city to add or change with the grant money currently available.

“Tell us what you think. Tell us what your priorities are,” Lett said.

After the public visited each station and the room started to clear out, green stickers could be seen on each board, indicating which options were the most popular.

One poster, titled “FURNISHINGS,” included different bench options, with the most popular being a traditional metal bench with an armrest in the middle. A metal trash receptacle also was the most popular as well as different fitness options.

Another poster, titled “PLAYGROUNDS,” included playground components that would need to “have smaller footprints” because of the narrow space available around the lake. Some of the most popular options on this board included a play/slide combo, music-inspired playground equipment, a short rock-climbing feature, and swings.

Another poster board presented ideas on how a wider walking and/or biking path should look, including more or less trees. The most popular option appeared to be an alternative that would reduce the lake area to retain trees and add green space for an 8-foot wide multi-use path with 4-foot wide fishing zones in “limited locations.”

Top of mind for some residents was the presence of the homeless or individuals at the lake who may take part in illegal or less-than-desirable activities in and around the area.

“When we’re talking about vagrancy and vandalism, you get more legitimate activity out at the park or any place, that illegitimate activity tends to die down,” Schaad said. “We gotta start somewhere. … As we move forward, and the city’s budget is in a position to do so, we would add amenities and the maintenance staff associated with it.”

Lett said the next steps for the city will be to continue to develop the Ellis Lake Master Plan. She said the plan will “drive future phases” and will be implemented based on need and available funding.

To continue the efforts from Saturday, Lett said there would be another meeting in “about a month” to present to the public a draft master plan based on their feedback.

“We can hear what you think. We can hear what changes need to be made. We can hear what your priorities are for implementing that draft master plan,” Lett said.

Once all relevant information is collected, a final master plan will be approved and then the initial construction phase will be formalized, Lett said.

“The phase one construction documents are separate from the master planning effort and they are tied to that grant funding,” Lett said. “… How we choose to implement and fulfill some of those commitments will be based on the efforts today.”