IMAGE COURTESY OF AHBL

THIS RENDERING SHOWS HOW WATERWAY PARK MIGHT LOOK WHEN FULLY DEVELOPED.

Planning for future park continues

By John Larson

Those involved in planning the future Waterway Park are interested in incorporating the Puyallup Tribe’s cultural ties to Puget Sound. Many local residents gathered at Freighthouse Square March 10 for another meeting on the future plans for Waterway Park, which will be established at the south end of Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma.

Tanya Andrews, executive director of Children’s Museum of Tacoma, briefly discussed her organization’s decision two weeks ago to withdraw its plans to build its future home at

Waterway Park. She expressed interest in seeing how plans for the park develop. “I hope you dream big, because that is what our community deserves,” she remarked.

Wayne Carlson from Tacoma engineering firm AHBL, which has been hired to coordinate planning for the park, noted non-motorized boat users have several amenities they want at the park. These include changing rooms, showers and lockers to store their boats.

“All parties are invested in making this a

community asset,” Wayne Carlson said.

Phase I is an adaptive re-use plan, in which the building currently utilized by Berg Scaffolding would be converted to a center for rowers. This plan assumes there will be off-site parking nearby, Wayne Carlson noted.

Phase II is a master plan for the site. This plan could include a new building for rowers, with ample glass and maritime elements such as flags in the design. Visitors could walk along the esplanade or stop to rest at a terraced seating area. Benches could be concrete and shaped like canoes, Wayne Carlson said. Native plants would be used in shoreline restoration.

Don Meyer, executive director of Foss Waterway Development Authority (FWDA), said a shoreline permit would be needed to do the type of work Wayne Carlson discussed. Acquiring the permit is a process that would take nine to 12 months, he said.

The deadline for submitting comments to the FWDA board is 5 p.m., March 28. It is tentatively scheduled to take action May 21.

Don Meyer told the audience it is important to have a cohesive vision for the park to land state and federal funding. “We have to move this forward with a strong vision,” he remarked. “We have a precious piece of real estate. Let’s do this right.”

One woman in the audience asked whether there will be any recognition in the park of those who first took boats on the water in this area, Native Americans. Don Meyer suggested some interpretive signs providing information about the Puyallup Tribe and their tradition of taking canoes out onto Commencement Bay.

“There is no real recognition on the waterway of the Tribe,” he said. “This site is perfect for that kind of recognition.”

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