News / Life / Clark County Life

99-year-old donating land to expand central Vancouver park

The Columbian

Published: June 29, 2016, 6:02am

4 Photos

Hazel Stein, 99, enjoys the birds and squirrels June 2 in central Vancouver's Tanglewood Park. Behind the chain-link fence lies the land she is donating to the city to expand the park by nearly an acre. Additional land acquisitions will result in the park growing to a total 3.4 acres. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Get lost in Vancouver’s Marrion neighborhood and you might stumble upon Tanglewood Park tucked in a cul-de-sac.

The shady, green park is small, just 0.77 acres.

Its amenities are humble: a park sign and a single bench.

But thanks to a gift from a 99-year-old resident, the park’s size — and its name — soon will change.

Hazel Stein is donating nearly an acre of adjacent property to the city for the park’s expansion. She also has offered the city first right of refusal to buy her remaining half acre of adjacent property when it’s eventually put on the market.

In exchange for the land donation, the city has agreed to rename the park “George and Hazel Stein Neighborhood Park.”

“It’s truly one of those really inspirational stories you hear about citizens giving back to their community with a donation,” Parks and Recreation Director Julie Hannon said. “It’s an outstanding community benefit. We’re very pleased to be part of it.”

The city’s next step is to purchase the 1.85-acre adjacent lot to the north, which has 95 feet of street frontage on Northeast 97th Avenue. With no direct access to an arterial street, Tanglewood Park is accessible by only two cul-de-sacs, Northeast 98th Circle and Northeast Sixth Circle.

The land acquisitions will expand the formerly tiny park to 3.42 acres, which will provide a more suitable space for a neighborhood park with room for future amenities, Hannon said. The additional land also will help the city meet its goal of a neighborhood park within a half mile of every house in the city. Parks typically need to be 3 to 5 acres to meet the neighborhood standard.

Stein said she decided to donate the property because she likes wide-open spaces, birds and wildlife.

“I can’t imagine anyone not making a park out of this area,” she said, sitting on a chair under a tree in early June. “I just hope it will be a relaxing place for people to come.”

Originally from Tacoma, Stein graduated from Lincoln High School, married George Stein in 1959 and moved to Vancouver in 1961. For years, she continued to commute to her job at the city of Tacoma, where she worked in the civil service, personnel and retirement offices. Hazel Stein also worked part-time in the evenings for 20 years in a little candy store between Tacoma and Puyallup, where “I got my fill of chocolate,” said Stein, who prefers undipped caramels and almond roca nowadays.

George Stein, a World War II veteran who died in 1988, worked in Clark County Public Works for 36 years on the road striping crew.

A treasurer at Evergreen Bible Church for more than three decades, Hazel Stein enjoys writing poetry about God’s creations. Her friends have urged her to pen a piece about Tanglewood Park. Stein, who turns 100 on Sept. 10, is waiting for the mood to strike.

Although she’s not one to seek the spotlight, Stein is pleased at the thought of the park being renamed for her and her husband.

“I think it’s quite fabulous,” she said.

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