PENDLETON — Pendleton Parks and Recreation is targeting late July for the opening of the newly renovated Til Taylor Park, but there’s still a chance it could be delayed.

In an interview, Pendleton Parks and Recreation Director Liam Hughes said the renovation project, which includes a splash pad and two new playgrounds, was on track to be completed by July 25, but the city still was waiting on a few key pieces to ship.

“Unfortunately, there’s a couple of things in the mail,” he said, later adding the city was waiting on fencing and a slide for the playground.

Hughes said the city wouldn’t want to open the parks before the parts come in because the fencing is to keep children from running into the street. But he said he expects the park to open soon, even if it doesn’t hit the July 25 target.

Deliveries continue to be the challenge for “Til Taylor 101,” which was meant to commemorate the 101st anniversary of Umatilla County Sheriff Til Taylor’s murder by turning the park’s wading pool into a splash pad, adding new playgrounds and establishing a dog park at the 700 S.E. Dorion Ave. site. Hughes said the dog park likely would open after the splash pad and playgrounds as the parks department decides if it should irrigate the dog park lawn.

Originally budgeted for $575,000, the Til Taylor renovation project exceeded its original budget by more than $130,000. Park crews needed to dig out organic matter from the ground when replacing trees in the park, driving up the cost. And when the city couldn’t obtain rubber tiles for its playground flooring, it needed to use a more expensive “pour-in-place” surface. Hughes intended to downgrade the fencing in the park to make up for the increase in cost, but the Pendleton City Council directed him to expand the project budget and order the original fencing.

While the record heat wave in early July slowed or even stopped many activities across Oregon, Hughes said parks staff and construction crews were able to work around it. Certain jobs, such as pouring concrete, would have been difficult to pull off in triple-digit heat, but Hughes said parks staff are used to starting work at 6 a.m. to avoid the hottest part of the day and tried their best to work around it.

While the park still is heavily under construction, Hughes said it should all come together in the following weeks.

“It should start looking like a park soon,” he said.

According to the strategic plan, Pendleton averages one park for every 833 people, more than twice the national average. While Pendleton has plenty of parks for a town its size, not all the parks are equal.

Grecian Heights Park is a large space that compliments its namesake neighborhood, and Community Park is a showcase for the McKay Creek section of town. But Pendleton’s South Hill, in comparison, has May Park at the John Murray Building, the leftovers of the city’s former junior high school.

Maintaining and managing all those parks has a cost and, unlike the department’s recreation, aquatics and cemetery programs, parks don’t take in a significant amount of revenue from user fees.

Almost all — 98% — of Pendleton parks funding comes from property tax revenues, a source the parks department shares with police, fire and ambulance and other public services.