Within a few years, central Helena will be transformed.

Mountain bikers will ride stunts on a freeride course while residents play with their best friends in a nearby dog park or test their skills on the climbing wall. Children will squeal as they zoom down water slides and play in the spray park across the street. Youth and professional ballplayers will field grounders off a smooth, stone-free infield and work out in an expanded clubhouse.

Helena voters overwhelmingly approved a $7.85 million parks-improvement bond Tuesday, with about 71 percent of the ballots cast in favor of the funding. The money paves the way for the renovation and expansion of the Memorial Park pool, upgrades to Kindrick Legion Field and a massive undertaking to turn Centennial Park into the crown jewel of the city's park system.

Voters approved the bond by 5,920-to-2,389 votes, a difference of 3,531. The measure will raise $7.5 million for the three projects, with an additional $350,000 going toward bond administration costs.

Officials hailed the bond as the dawn of a new age for the city's park system.

"This just is the final piece of a big puzzle that is going to put us onto a whole new level with our recreation in the whole community," Mayor Jim Smith said. "It'll put us in a whole new class ... a whole new level of recreational opportunities and community pride.

"Boy, this is neat."

The project's centerpiece, $3.75 million of work at Centennial Park, will turn a former garbage dump into a 49-acre multipurpose facility with something for all ages. Smith noted the park will eventually serve as a hub for trails extending out into the community, the Helena Valley and the South Hills.

He said Helenans deserve credit for taking care of their community.

"It says a lot about the quality of people in Helena that they (pay) to do these sort of things," Smith said. "But it's just that kind of town. Even after all these years, sometimes I just want to pinch myself to remind me how lucky I am to live in Helena."

Parks Board member Jerry Spencer, who helped spearhead the drive to develop the plans and the push to get the measure passed, echoed Smith's comments. He noted one sign of a healthy community is the quality of its park system.

"I'm really happy for Helena," Spencer said. "Thank you, Helena. The overwhelming majority that this issue garnered is another sign of how vibrant this community is."

Parks and Recreation Director Randy Lilje said he hopes to have a contractor working at the pool by the end of next August. He said some work may begin at Kindrick Legion Field before baseball starts in the spring, though major work on the playing field or at the clubhouse will have to wait until next fall.

The Centennial Park project is the most complicated of the three. Lilje plans to finalize design work and put the project out to bid next summer. Work could be complete by late 2009 or sometime in 2010, he said.

Plans include a 7,000-square-foot expansion of the existing skateboard park, a quartet of tournament-ready softball fields, improvements to the existing soccer fields, a dog park, a mountain bike freeride course and a bouldering/climbing facility.

A walkway will lead into the park from the Great Northern Town Center, and Centennial will include 2.3 miles of decomposed granite trails.

Planned work at Helena's historic Kindrick Legion Field, built about 1940, will include needed maintenance and new amenities to improve the experiences of both fans and Helena Brewers and American Legion ballplayers.

The dry, rocky infield will be replaced with a smoother playing surface. New bleachers will be added along the baselines, but the historic grandstands will remain. The home clubhouse will be renovated and expanded.

New ballpark lights will cut energy costs and reduce light pollution in the surrounding area. They'll also be mounted on metal poles, eliminating the danger of a pole falling onto the field. An existing wooden pole fell into the outfield fence a few years ago.

At Memorial Park, workers will resurface the pool, the surrounding deck and replace circulation and filtration systems that have nearly reached the end of their use.

But what's sure to bring delight to Helena families in the near future is the addition of a kids swim park east of the existing pool. The addition would include a kids pool, spray features, waterslides and a swim channel.

The plan also includes an improved concessions area and an upgraded clubhouse.

It's difficult to determine the exact cost to the average Helena homeowner, but officials say the figure is about $22 annually. To calculate your cost, find the state Department of Revenue's assessment value on your latest property tax bill and figure $1.43 for every $5,000 of property value.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com