December 16, 2002

County Park and Pool Transfers: Unprecedented Opportunity, Unfinished Business

King County’s Park and Recreation system has been transformed with the Metropolitan King County Council’s approval today of agreements transferring eight County parks and three County pools to suburban cities and private organizations.

“From the announcement by the Executive of the creation of the Metropolitan Parks Task Force to today is just a little over nine months. In that time we have changed the focus of our parks system,” said Carolyn Edmonds, Chair of the Natural Resources, Parks and Open Space Committee. “Parks and pools in King County continue to be available to people throughout the region, but the responsibility for the operation and maintenance of these facilities now belong to the communities in which they’re located. It’s a partnership that ensures these parks will remain open now and into the future.”

Due to an ongoing structural gap between revenues and expenses, King County evaluated many options for continued funding of parks and pools located within incorporated cities. It came to the reluctant conclusion that it needed to transfer or mothball local facilities located within cities and focus its resources on such regional facilities as Marymoor Park, the King County Aquatic Center and the King County Fairgrounds, and on parks and pools in the unincorporated areas where King County is the only local government. Therefore, the council took a series of actions earlier this year to adopt a new entrepreneurial blueprint that enables the transfer of ownership of local parks and pools to individual cities and organizations that are willing to operate and maintain them for the benefit of their constituents.

The Council today approved agreements transferring:

• Beaver Lake Park to the city of Sammamish
• Lea Hill Park and Auburndale Park to the city of Auburn
• Bridle Crest Park to the city of Redmond
• Salmon Creek Waterway to the city of Burien
• Fort Dent Park to the city of Tukwila
• Lake Wilderness Park and Conference Center to the city of Maple Valley
• Sammamish Cove Park to the city of Issaquah
• Kenneth Jones Pool to the city of Federal Way
• Mercer Island’s Mary Wayte Pool and the Northshore Costie/Ruiz Pool in Bothell to the Northwest Center          

The Council approved a one-year operating agreement for the Mount Rainier Pool to be operated by the Highline School District and the cities of Des Moines, Normandy Park and SeaTac. The Council also approved a one-year agreement in which the county will continue to operate the Redmond Pool and receive payment from the city of Redmond to defray the cost of operating the facility.

“I would like to express sincere appreciation to the cities for stepping forward to take on the responsibility of maintaining and operating these invaluable public assets for our citizens,” said Councilmember David Irons, Vice Chair of the Natural Resources, Parks and Open Space Committee. “This partnership effort to protect our community resources could not have occurred without the vision and leadership of the Executive, the task force and the cities.”

Sixteen parks and four pools have been transferred to cities in which they’re located. The Boys and Girls Clubs of King County will now operate two community centers. The transfer and operation agreements involved 21 suburban cities, two school districts and organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Northwest Center.

“These transfers are an investment in the future,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, Chair of the Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. “These parks and pools would have closed at the end of the year because we no longer have the money to maintain and support all of these facilities. Funding for mothballing the parks and pools now becomes seed money to help new owners  get off to a strong start.”

“Today’s vote is the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people: members of the Metropolitan Parks Task Force, the Active Sports and Youth Recreation Commission,  activists,  community leaders, the Executive and the members of the Council. We all came together because we  realize just how important these facilities are to our communities,” said Edmonds. “But our work is not finished. There are still three pools that we need to work with our suburban partners to keep open and I want to start that work as quickly as possible. These facilities mean  too much to their communities.”

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s new LEGISEARCH system at http://mkcclegisearch.metrokc.gov