Seattle Press on Line - Magnuson Park Breaks New Ground on Old Navy Base

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Magnuson Park Breaks New Ground on Old Navy Base

Mar 28, 2002 -- Children's Hospital's 1998 expansion announcement came as a blow to gardeners at the Sand Point P-Patch. After gardening there for six years, the P-Patchers were displaced. Gardener Peter Boveng and his family are now going without the homegrown veggies, berries and herbs they love. But now Boveng is tending a bigger crop--a new four-acre Community Garden at Magnuson Park.

"As we started seeking a new site, the idea of Magnuson Park came up since plans were under review with the Blue Ribbon Commission," Boveng said. The Blue Ribbon Committee was created to find uses for the Sand Point Navy Base, closed down in 1991 by Dick Cheney, then Secretary of Defense.

After submitting a proposal, the P-Patchers were adopted into the Concept Design approved by the City Council in 1999. But the seeds of the Community Garden idea had grown well beyond 120 plots to include extensive landscaping with an orchard, children's garden, amphitheater and native plant program.

"We broke ground on February 2 for the Community Garden," said Eric Friedli, director of operations and planning for Seattle Parks and Recreation. Friedli oversees the department's Master Plan for Sand Point Magnuson Park, which is in large part funded by the 2000 Pro Parks Levy. He hits on all the major themes: "The intention is to integrate arts and cultural events with sports activities--all within a natural habitat."

Besides the garden, Friedli describes five other improvement projects underway at the 360-acre park, including building the activities and recreation centers, enhancing the off-leash area, and reconfiguring 15 sports fields, all of which will have proper drainage on the wetland property. The playground for kids and adults already provides a sanctuary of woods, waterfront beach and boat launches, trails and a kite knoll, and will soon offer upgraded facilities.

The off-leash area, for instance, consisting of nine acres for dogs and their human companions, will grow out of its current elongated layout to include a meadow for playing ball and Frisbee with pets, says Friedli, thanks to $700,000 from the Pro Parks Levy. The old chain link will be replaced with split-rail fencing, and bridges, picnic shelters, water sources and drainage will augment the trails.

Hard to believe that not long ago--in 1996--the Magnuson Park off-leash area was debated. But back during the '90s several groups, from the Muckleshoot Indian tribe to homeless advocates, struggled for control over a portion of this desirable real estate. Controversy goes back further when the Naval Air Station was first deactivated in the '70s, and groups wanted to maintain the runway for small planes. After all, it marked the spot of the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe and Charles Lindbergh landed there in 1927.

Sand Point isn't new to improvements and expansion. In fact, it was named after Washington's U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson in 1977 after he acquired major funds for converting the area to parkland. This ongoing process was pushed along further when the Pro Parks Levy was passed, earmarking $5.6 million for development.

Today a sea of shark fins cover a field, an art installation made from buried nuclear submarine vanes created by John Young. Other artwork includes the mysteriously eerie Soundgarden near NOAA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration site. Plans to convert the Old Naval Fire House into Artists' Studios are in the works by Sand Point Arts and Cultural Exchange (SPACE) who work on using the buildings for arts programs and performances.

Housed in Building 30 are offices for non-profit environmental and recreational organizations such as the Cascade Bicycle Club and Bats Northwest. The 20,000 square-foot old hangar, best-known for the Friends of the Library and Arboretum's sales, is slotted for repairs to its leaky roof.

A maintenance overhaul has commenced on the former Navy Recreation Center with seismic work, heating and lobby enhancements. According to Friedli, it should open its doors by the end of the year so the gym and theater can be used activities like basketball, senior yoga classes and family film nights.

The old Navy Jail will be the new Community Activity Center. Built in 1988, the facility is ADA accessible, requiring a minimal facelift. It will be made available to the nearby Community Garden.

Another project involves reconfiguring 15 athletic fields over 60 acres of Magnuson Park in order to best utilize game time. The revised blueprint maps out three Little League and two adult baseball diamonds, five soccer and one rugby fields. Some will have grass and others synthetic surfaces, but all sports areas will be raised for proper drainage.

Eliminating mud and under-water parking lots on the flat peninsula is part of the habitat redevelopment aspect of the plans. "Because the work involves a wetland," notes Friedli, "Federal permits are required and the transformation is currently under environmental review."

The Magnuson Environmental Stewardship Alliance is restoring 15 acres by removing invasive plant species from trails. Other groups participating in the Park's wide-ranging activities include the Audubon Society, Seattle Tilth, Children's Hospital, and the Easter Seal Society.

In line with the Community Garden's mission of education, awareness and beauty, Boveng describes plans that include working with kids at the YMCA and residents of the low-income housing units, as well as park tenants Earthcorps, to propagate native plants, provide demonstrations and offer a natural habitat for insects and birds. The landscape design's Tranquil Garden, originally developed for people with special needs, will serve as a refuge for everyone. And an amphitheater presents an intimate space for concerts, weddings and gatherings on the edge of the garden.

Already some P-Patchers have planted the seeds at designated spots in Magnuson Park. They've also grafted varieties of apples and pears from trees on the previous site--originally from old farms in the area--to begin a fruit and nut orchard.

In addition to cultivating the Community Garden as a non-profit organization, Peter Boveng also tends to fundraising to help make his vision bloom. The largely volunteer project is proceeding, in cooperation with the Parks Department, with a yearlong initial phase of construction, earthwork and creating paths. Plantings come next year. He looks forward to the day of returning to his own garden patch of edible greens and reaping the rewards of the harvest.

When Magnuson Park plans are finally put to bed, Sand Point may actually resemble the peninsula's marshland of 150 years ago--with Mud Lake filled in, people frolicking on Lake Washington and gardeners farming the land--a far cry from the airstrip of the last century.

For involvement with the Community Garden go to: www.cityofseattle.net/magnusongarden.

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Rikki	Nov 11, 2004	Magnolia	school
To the Cascade Bike Club you want to have bar my question is why? Also maybe you should concider having your veiw or stanpoint/idea on what you will do for the park placed on your website. Please contact me back at 206-794-9009