A panel of experts chose from among three different play structures for the upcoming Ercolini Park downhill from the Junction.

"I assume you're all experts, having been children," David Goldberg, a planner for Seattle Parks and Recreation, told about 15 people meeting to discuss the future park at the Senior Center of West Seattle last week.

This was the third and final public meeting about Ercolini park and it was time to pick a play structure. Three manufacturers each designed a $60,000 play structure for the site and the small crowd was asked for comments.

Each proposal had a multilevel climbing structure, slides and a spinning contraption. The proposals differed in the number of places kids could clamber aboard. Some had more handholds than others. The proposal recommended by the landscape architects has 18 "access points" while the others had 12 and 10 places to climb on.

The park is planned at the intersection of Southwest Alaska Street at 48th Avenue.

There also will be a "skatedot" at the new park with about three skateboarding features such as a small, low wall and a couple of ramps. It will be designed for early teens and younger children, Goldberg said.

People at the meeting agreed there's a need for a skatedot.

"Kids haul ramps into the streets now," a woman said.

New 4-foot-wide sidewalks are planned around the park and they'll be paid for by the Seattle Department of Transportation. People wanted the new sidewalks to meander but the Transportation Department is used to designing straight sidewalks, Goldberg said.

The Seattle Parks Board weighed in on the sidewalks planned at Ercolini Park. Parks commissioners recommend installing porous pavement that would allow rain to soak into the ground rather than running off.

The southern portion of the site is below sidewalk level. Material will be hauled in to raise the level a bit, but it will still be lower than the sidewalk.

Six new wheelchair-accessible curb cuts are planned too.

Sections of new fencing are planned along the alley and mixed with new landscaping, but the park won't be encircled.

Final design of the new park is scheduled for completion in May with construction planned for July. It will take about two months to build, said Joe Neiford, a landscape architect working on the project.

Tim St. Clair may be reached at 932.0300 or tstclair@robinsonnews.com