Fulstone Wetlands project blends parks, trails, open space

Being billed as a place where parks, trails and open space meet, the recently completed Fulstone Wetlands project offers a .6-mile path around the site, through the wetlands observation area.

"We had a different focus with this park," he said. "Instead of a traditional park, we tried to integrate a park-like feel into a natural setting so that it was almost seamless," said Carson City Park Planner Vern Krahn on a tour of the area this week.

The 8-acre park, a joint Parks and Open Space project, located across Northridge Drive from the Boys & Girls Club, provides a transitional buffer area between the freeway and the homes in the Northridge subdivision.

The gently sloped trail connects with the Linear Path along the freeway corridor north of Northridge, and is constructed using materials that include a stabilizer, making the entire loop ADA accessible. The project was built by Cruz Construction.

"We wanted to make this accessible to people in wheelchairs," Krahn said.

Ann Bollinger, resource specialist for the city's Open Space Division, said the wetlands is home to many birds including the red-winged blackbird. Plants in the project area include selections such as feather reed grass, Apache plume, pinion pine, butterfly milkweed and daylilies.

"We've selected plants that were natural or native from the Sierra Nevada to the desert," Krahn said.

In the bigger picture, the completion of this project completes all the required improvements for the Northridge housing development, Krahn said. The Fulstone Wetlands and Lone Mountain Park are open space anchors to the active and passive parks within that area, and all are connected by paths.

"There is a tremendous variety, and an amazing amount of outdoor experiences," he said.

Bollinger said the fence along the Linear Path has been opened up in two places for access to the new park, and park offers park benches, as well as a bicycle rack, and several mutt mitt stations, as well. Dogs are allowed only on a leash, in order to protect the wildlife.

Bollinger added that the park is close enough to Mark Twain Elementary School to allow students to use it for educational opportunities, especially since there is water in the wetlands year-around.

The project received $195,000 in grant funding from three agencies - the Carson Water Subconservancy District, Nevada State Parks Recreational Trails Program and the Nevada State Lands Conservation and Resource Protection Grant Program (Question 1), Bollinger said.

Additional projects costs, such as design by Wood Rodgers Inc., and landscape design by Sandra Wendel & Associates, were paid through Carson City's Quality of Life (Question 18) funding, she said.

IF YOU GO:

What: Ribbon-cutting ceremony for Fulstone Wetlands project.

Date: 4 p.m. Friday

Where: On the north side of Northridge Drive, intersection with Russell Way. Parking is available at the Boys & Girls Club.

Sponsors: Carson City Parks and Recreation Department, Open Space Division.

Details: 887-2262.