The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board unanimously accepted the draft concept for Chinook Neighborhood Park Friday at its monthly meeting today in the Public Service Center.
Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation set a $618,000 budget limit on the park, $508,000 of which is construction costs – the other $108,000 goes towards planning and permitting.
Robin Washington, the project manager for Clark County Public Works, said designing the 5.4-acre park will last until next April, when the project will go out for bid.
Ryan Weston of the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation District said a little more than two acres would undergo significant development. He also said that 18 potentially hazardous trees would need to be cut down, along with approximately 18 more trees for the emergency turnaround, lawns and playground area.
The park will include a north-south asphalt walkway, northern and southern open lawn areas, nature play elements, a picnic area, a traditional playground and natural areas.
Unfunded Additions
North Salmon Creek Neighborhood Association plans to raise $75,000 to include a gazebo, park benches and an entrance feature on the park’s south side.
“It’s our first park in our neighborhood, and we’re excited about it,” said association secretary Barbara Anderson.
Anderson said the gazebo will cost from $45,000 to $60,000 – each bench will cost between $1,500 and $2,000.
Weston said much of the cost is the concrete pads underneath benches and the labor to install them. The county buys the benches for all its parks from Columbia Cascade Company.
The park will also include a labyrinth – an intricately designed walking path that will cost approximately $20,000. Its inclusion depends on the project bid coming in $20,000 under budget.
Need for the Park and Environmental Concerns
The park is located north of 142nd Street and east of 8th Avenue. Its northern end cuts through the Whipple Creek Greenway to a pedestrian footbridge installed in 2000.
Weston said many students use the park to get from neighborhoods north of Whipple Creek to Skyview High School, Alki Middle School and Chinook Elementary School on the south. He said that the schools are in full support of the project, and there would be an increase of students walking to school when the park is built. Currently, students must walk a circuitous route to the east or west to reach school from the northern neighborhoods.
The county will keep a 25-foot buffer zone around creeks when building the path to the northern entrance to the park on 7th Place. It will also avoid any work in sloped wetland areas on the north, except for the walkway to the footbridge.
