The City of Issaquah will seek ideas from local residents about what they want to see in the proposed Issaquah Creek Confluence Park Area located in Olde Town Issaquah.
Over the past 15 years, the city has been buying up largely undeveloped property close to the historic downtown area, leveraging county and state grant money, and a bond measure, to secure open space in the environmentally sensitive site at the confluence of the main stem and the east fork of Issaquah Creek. One parcel of land was acquired thanks to a gift from a long-time resident.
What this enabled the city to do was connect 15 acres of green space, bordered by Rainier Boulevard NW to the east, Holly Street to the north, and the Issaquah School District administration building to the west, linking what is now known as Tollë Anderson, Cybil-Madeline and Issaquah Creek parks.
The next step is deciding what, if anything, should be done to the new “super park.”
The city selected landscape architectural firm, The Berger Partnership, to prepare a Master Site Plan for the park area, and hoped to begin a series of public meetings this summer.
According to City of Issaquah Parks Planner, Margaret Macleod, the city was very unlikely to make significant changes to the area.
“Some of the grant money we acquired came with restrictions on what could be built,” she said. The purpose of the grant money, from agencies such as King County Conservation Futures and the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office, was to secure environmentally sensitive areas from development. Similarly, one of the aims of the $6.25 million Park and Natural Area Bond approved by Issaquah residents in November 2006 was to protect creeks, wildlife, and natural areas.
The Bolliger property, on the corner of Holly Street and Rainier Boulevard, was acquired by a councilmanic bond.
Julia Pritt, who donated funding toward acquisition of the former Beebe property, now Cybil-Madeline Park, stated it must be preserved for “passive recreational use.” Pritt also stipulated the park be named Cybil-Madeline after her two granddaughters.
“It will be a passive-use park,” Macleod said.
While she added the city had not drawn up a formal list of priorities in the park, a walking trail connecting the three parks will definitely feature. Beyond that, nothing had been set in stone.
“One idea we have heard is for a children’s playground,” she said, adding that it would have to compliment the green, forested surrounding environment. “Something like that would need to incorporate natural features, rather than the ‘tot lots’ we see in so many parks.”
One of the big challenges for The Berger Partnership would be to make good use of the two farmhouses, the Ek Farmhouse and the Anderson Farmhouse, which would be conserved and turned into community facilities for the use of residents and visitors.
“We have asked the landscape architect for ideas on how we can preserve the farmhouses but still find a community use for them,” she said.
Berger landscape architect Guy Michaelsen said his firm was always striving to achieve a balance between people and nature.
“The opportunity for the confluence park to celebrate this balance is unparalleled,” he said. “Issaquah had great foresight to acquire this natural treasure in the heart of its increasingly vital downtown.”
Sammamish resident Mary Pigott recently announced she would donate her 51 acre property, in the center of the Plateau, to the city in three sections over the next 10 to 15 years. With similar restrictions on development, the City of Sammamish was also looking into ways it could utilize the space and farm buildings as a community resource while still retaining a focus on passive use.
Most recently, the Berger Partnership designed Seattle’s Magnuson Park, which was honored as the best new park in 2010 by the Washington Recreation and Parks Association.
