Central Point Gets a Summer Fix and a Winter Answer in the Same Season
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
Two projects in Central Point are wrapping up at about the same time. The first is the rebuilt playground at Don Jones Memorial Park, due back in November. The second is a city community center inside The Peak, the new county building on the Expo grounds, which should be fully running in January. They are aimed at opposite seasons. The playground work deals with summer, and its main goal is more shade. The Peak gives the city indoor space for the cold months. Within about ten weeks, Central Point will have updated the park it uses most and added a covered place for the rest of the year.
The odd part of the Don Jones schedule is the timing. Matt Samitore, Central Point's parks and public works director, told the Rogue Valley Times that the lack of shade has been the park's biggest complaint.
"Don Jones is our premier park and No. 1 used park and we want to make sure people are using it at its maximum potential."
That is how Samitore described the park to the Rogue Valley Times. Work started after Labor Day. Parks staff expect to reopen in November, weather permitting. So the shade structures will go up in late fall, when nobody needs them, and their first real use will come next summer. Families who visit in November will notice the new equipment first. The shade pays off in July.
The city also added money to the shade plan after the design was drawn. Samitore said the published video rendering leaves things out. That includes shade over the swing sets, other shaded spots, and a net spinner. He said the city "added more to the budget to make sure there's more shade out there." The design walkthrough on YouTube shows the overall layout, but expect the finished park to have more cover than the video shows.
The park covers about eight acres and was built 18 years ago. It is named for Don Jones, the community leader who served as Central Point's mayor for many years. The roughly $1.1 million renovation is the biggest change since it opened. A state grant from the Oregon State Parks Department covers about 65% of the cost. The Central Point Parks & Recreation Commission reviewed seven proposals. It chose the design from GameTime, which Samitore said was among the lowest-cost options.
According to the Rogue Valley Times report, these are the main changes:
The rubber surface and the drainage work are what keep the playground usable in winter. Without wood chips, wet weather is less of a problem in the months before the shade starts to matter.
More work is planned. Samitore said a third gazebo will go in at the end of next summer. The old concession area between the spray park and the playground will become more shade, picnic tables, and a drinking fountain. That phase waits for the city budget that starts July 1. The parks department posts updates on its Facebook page.
The Peak's schedule has an outside cause. The building is along Peninger Road on the Jackson County Expo grounds. It is named for Mount McLoughlin, the often snow-capped peak behind it. It is expected to cost $61.5 million. The county put in $24 million, and $39 million came from the federal American Rescue Plan. Those federal dollars must be spent before the end of 2026, the Rogue Valley Times reported. That deadline explains the target of move-in by year's end and full operation by January 2027. County Administrator Danny Jordan also said the project is on track to finish just over $2 million under budget.
Construction started after the 2024 Jackson County Fair. Footings were poured in February 2025 and the steel went up that May. What is left is interior finishing: striping the gym floors, testing building systems, and putting up signs.
The county will run The Peak as a regional event center and as a base for regional emergencies. Under an agreement with the county, Central Point will use one-third of the building as what the Rogue Valley Times called a "long-awaited community center." The city contributed $1.1 million, or 30%, of the $3.8 million design cost. Its share of the building comes with a 35-year, $15 million lease at 4.5% interest, and the city can pay off the balance at any time.
The 120,000-square-foot building includes:
County officials have said the emergency features came out of lessons from the 2020 Labor Day fires and the COVID-19 pandemic. The county's October update, as the Rogue Valley Times reported it, named no grand-opening date and no first events. County staff and Kemper Sports, the firm hired to manage the building, are lining up events, programs, and sponsors. The quickest way to hear about first bookings is The Peak's own Facebook page, which launched in late September.
The Expo grounds will be busy well before The Peak opens. Two November events there match the two jobs the new building will do.
On Saturday, November 7, Jackson County Emergency Management holds a free Winter Ready safety and preparedness fair at the Expo, according to the Expo events calendar. It covers the same emergency preparedness work The Peak's kitchen and showers were built for, so it is a useful look at what the county has in mind before the building is finished.
The following weekend, November 13 to 15, the Southern Oregon Holiday Market fills the Expo buildings with more than 200 vendor booths. It runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. This is the large-event side, the kind of crowd The Peak is meant to give the grounds more room for starting next year.
Between now and January, the in-town stops are close to downtown and the Old Stage Road area.
Buttercloud Coffeehouse is open at 245 N. Front St., next to Rogue Creamery. It serves coffee, espresso, pastries, and grab-and-go food. It is the Central Point location of the Medford bakery of the same name. A coffee shop on Front Street next to the creamery makes it easy to stop at both in one trip.
Pinot + Pages meets Wednesday evenings at Hummingbird Estate, 1677 Old Stage Road. It is a writing meetup sponsored by Hummingbird Estate and the Rogue Writers Collective. The Central Point Chamber listing shows a December 2 session from 5 to 7 p.m. and notes that the group meets every Wednesday.
If the November weather holds, the Don Jones playground reopens around the same time as the Holiday Market. The Peak's community center should follow in January.
If you're wondering what a rebuilt Don Jones and a community center at The Peak could mean for a home near either one, or a move into town, Homes By Shelley Oaks is happy to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
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