The Covington City Council approved an agreement to receive a $4.95 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce on Jan. 24, according to a press release from Karla Slate, the communications and marketing manager.

The Covington Community Park will be adding a number of park amenities and features as part of the second development phase.

The amount the state is contributing toward the project is $7.5 million, which includes another grant from the Department of Commerce and a grant from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program. Other funding includes $500,000 from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Program, $354,000 from the city of Covington’s General Fund, $65,000 from King County and $30,688 from the King Conservation District.

The overall cost for the project is close to $8.5 million and is now fully funded.

The major elements that will be added to the park include a community stage with a green roof, a large lawn, picnic shelters, playground, fitness area with exercise stations, a tennis court, additional trail segments, restrooms, a concessions building, additional parking, wetland mitigation, utility infrastructure and frontage improvements.

The next part of phase two now that it is fully funded is to obtain permits, which the city is currently doing. It will subsequently bid the project and begin construction later this year and is estimated to take about a year to complete.

The final phase is planned but it is not currently funded. The most significant feature of the last phase will be the addition of synthetic turf athletic fields with lighting.