PENDLETON — The Til Taylor 101 project is on time but over budget.

Back in October, the Pendleton Development Commission allocated $575,000 to Pendleton Parks and Recreation to renovate Til Taylor Park to coincide with the 101st anniversary of its namesake’s death, a project that included replacing the park’s wading pool with a splash pad, installing two new playgrounds and adding a dog park.

After some costs came in higher than expected and some unforeseen circumstances, the commission voted on Tuesday, May 18, to increase the budget by $131,698, with most of the funding coming from public sources.

The day after the meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Liam Hughes toured the park, its north side fenced in as contractors and park staff worked on the project. With the wading pool already removed and covered over, Hughes said the new playgrounds are due to be installed next week.

Hughes said the cost overruns weren’t simply an issue of miscalculated costs. While removing some of the old trees from the park was more expensive than what was budgeted because of some organic matter in the ground, Hughes said one of the additional costs represented an upgrade to the project.

Parks staff had initially intended to use rubber tiles as flooring for the playgrounds. But after a glue shortage led the tile supplier to cancel its order, the city was forced to switch to “pour-in-place” rubber, a higher quality flooring that also was more expensive.

“We initially negotiated a Chevy, but we actually got a King Ranch, fully loaded,” he said.

Hughes was prepared to stay under budget by cutting the dog park and downgrading the fencing, but the commission, which is composed of members of the Pendleton City Council, asked him to come back with the cost of keeping the original vision intact.

Parks and recreation’s new proposal, which the commission unanimously approved, requested an additional $60,000 from the commission and $46,698 from the city’s parks trust fund, a fund derived from gifts and donations to the parks program. The rest would be sourced from a grant from the Pendleton Foundation Trust, a nonprofit.

Between the Til Taylor project and an effort to move a Community Park playground to mitigate flood risk, Hughes admitted the trust fund would take a big hit this year, but with good purpose.

“That’s what the fund is for,” he said. “We leveraged the money pretty well.”

With the new funding in hand, Hughes said the city plans to start work soon on building a fenced dog park. Parks and recreation also is soliciting donations for smaller amenities. Some of the money from the Pendleton Foundation Trust will go toward shade sails, and donors have already committed money to install benches and a water fountain.

Hughes said staff and contractors are working with urgency to complete the project this summer.