Bellingham’s Department of Parks and Recreation has plans to develop Bloedel Donovan Park off Electric Avenue in the Silver Beach neighborhood as early as this fall. The plan will fix the high level of phosphorus runoff, remove the eroded retaining wall and create a boathouse for storage space.
Alabama Hill residents can look forward to a beach area modeled after the recent renovations to Boulevard Park and a cleaner park overall, said James King, Director of Parks and Recreation.
The park plan is currently still in the design process and permitting needs to be approved, but so far the plan is on schedule. The start time also depends on the level of the water, which will decrease in the fall and allow for construction to commence, said King.
Originally a lumber mill and industrial site, the park was donated to the city in 1946 to be used and developed solely as a public park. According to the city of Bellingham’s website, $812,000 will be invested in the project from various grants including the City of Bellingham Water Fund, the Department of Ecology Statewide Stormwater Grant Program, the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office Aquatic Land Enhancement Account Grant and the Whatcom Rowing Association.
The first project will take out the retaining wall that has been eroding over the years from the force of the water and replace it with a pebble and gravel shore.
“It’s become dangerous, and we need to do something there,” said King.
The second of the three projects will tackle the high level of phosphorous runoff going into the lake. In order to reduce the contamination, the city is going to build a sand-filled trench to filter waste through the sand into the groundwater and not directly into the drinking water. The trench will run along the beach area and the lower area in between the volleyball courts where runoff often collects, said King.
The last project, proposed by the Whatcom Rowing Association, is the construction of a boathouse that will be built on the concrete slab near the volleyball courts. The boathouse will be used for storage of boats and other amenities for park-goers to use.
Some residents are opposed the the private use of a public space for the boathouse, but the Rowing Association is open to the public, said King. Others are also worried that there won’t be enough usable park space.
“We don’t have enough park space as it is,” said King. “This project will not reduce the amount of park space.
Richard Maneval, 60, the newly elected Vice President chair member of the Alabama Hill Association, local volunteer and resident of Bellingham, is glad the plan is proceeding.
“It’s really great we updated the plan,” said Maneval. “We need to do more in the watershed.”
The city of Bellingham has made many improvements to the park in the past and these upcoming changes will be another improvement. Bloedel Donovan is a recreational park and was originally meant to be for recreation, said Maneval, who hopes this will remain as the purpose of the park.
“These types of projects aren’t about bringing more people to the park,” said King. “It’s about doing the right thing environmentally.”
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