Residents and city park planners are working up ideas for West Seattle's newest park but, as is the trend lately, Seattle Parks and Recreation is looking to citizens to come up with some of the money for the project.

There's a vacant lot at the intersection of Alaska Street and 48th Avenue Southwest where the Ercolini family used to have a house and a big vegetable garden. The property was purchased with money from the 2000 Pro Parks levy and is scheduled to become a city park by next year.

Neighbors have been meeting with park designers from Seattle Parks and Recreation to develop a plan for the new park.

So far, the new pocket park is planned with an open grassy area on the southern edge along Alaska Street with a children's play structure in the northern portion. Some of the dirt in the higher northern portion of the property will be moved to raise the level of the southern section of the park, parts of which are now below street level.

Between the two areas would be a small plaza where parents could keep an eye on their kids in the adjacent play area. The plaza also could perform as an outdoor stage.

A meandering trail is planned around the edges of the park that might double as a new sidewalk along 48th Avenue. Park benches would be strategically placed and new trees, shrubs and other landscaping are planned for the corners and edges of the park.

The play area will be subtly divided so that toddlers can use one side and elementary-school-age and older kids can use the other half, said Shu-Jen Hwang, a Parks and Recreation landscape architect working on the project along with Joe Neiford, another landscape architect.

A sandbox is planned too.

People supported having fixed picnic tables with chairs but they weren't as interested in a kiosk to display neighborhood notices.

"It's not Craig's List," one man said in opposition to a kiosk.

There was mixed support for a half-court basketball hoop and for including skateboarding elements.

If it turns out there isn't enough money to build all that is planned, parks officials asked which components people would be willing to do without. Benches, the sand box and some of the landscaping could be postponed, they responded.

The cost estimate to develop the project is about $500,000. The Pro Parks levy provided $400,000. The city used half of that money to buy the Ercolini property. The other $200,000 goes toward developing the park.

City officials are confident the state of Washington's Interagency Committee on Recreation will contribute another $200,000, but that still leaves a $100,000 gap. So private citizens are being urged to start raising money to build the park.

City employees urged neighbors of the park to raise $50,000 in hopes it can be matched with another $50,000 from the city's Neighborhood Matching Fund.

"We tend to leverage funding," said David Goldberg, project manager for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

In the past, the parks department decided where city parks ought to be located, what facilities to include and when to build them. These days, the public gets involved in the planning of parks and has much more say about the finished product.

The city could've stuck with the original $200,000 development budget and started designing a spartan facility. But the public wants more amenities so Seattle Parks and Recreation is soliciting financial help from the public.

Involving citizens also helps build a stronger sense of community, Goldberg said.

"We're able to do more projects," he said. "A lot more than we could do."

Not just in West Seattle but all over the city, people are raising money for parks in their neighborhoods.

Another cost aspect is inflation. Since the Pro Parks levy was approved, construction costs have risen 15 percent, Goldberg said.

Next steps on the Ercolini park project will be to detail its costs more precisely and find money sources to do the work. Planners also will select a suitable play structure for the park.

Seattle Parks and Recreation officials plan another public meeting about the end of January, Goldberg said.

Tim St. Clair can be reached at 932-0300 or tstclair@robinsonnews.com