Exit133

August 8, 2013 · Exit133

New Funding for Chinese Reconciliation Park Phase III

Here's a bit of news from last week's City Manager's report to Council:

The City was awarded the following grant: Washington State Heritage Capital Projects Fund - Funding for the Chinese Reconciliation Park Phase III. The project will build on the successful complement of Phases I and II development and add such enhancement features as the perimeter fencing with Chinese motif, interpretive and wayfinding signage, parking lightings, and landscaping and irrigation system, that are necessary to make the park more inviting and convenient for visitors to appreciate and benefit from its historic significance, heritage context, educational functions, and recreation opportunities. The City will be awarded $388,000 with a City cash match of $60,000. which was included in the current biennial budget.

With this project funded; repairs to Old Town Dock reopened to the public; and Ruston Waterwalk, Point Defiance missing link, and Waterway (or is Frank Herbert?) Park all in varying stages of completion, the waterfront is looking pretty good. Not to mention the prospect of additional project funds via Port fee-in-lieu dollars...

Filed under: Waterfront, Parks, Chinese Reconciliation Park

16 comments

  • Bill August 8, 2013

    I have noticed that many of the roof tiles on the Fuzhou Ting (that structure pictured above) are seriously deteriorating. The edge pieces, for example, look like they have just broken off last I was there. Frankly, it looks like they are just falling apart. I hope that something is planned to repair the damage in the near future before the structure itself suffers. To allow that to happen would be a real shame.

    • Jesse August 8, 2013

      That's because a Ting is not built to last. It has to be rebuilt every so many years at a significant cost.

  • fred davie August 8, 2013

    Lots of pleas at city hall and in the state legislature about the lack of funds for important public 'needs," but yet there are always hundreds of thousands of spare tax dollars sitting around for liberal causes which the public is unwilling to voluntarily underwrite when given the chance.

    • Xeno August 9, 2013

      Never knew preserving our history and culture were considered liberal causes. Also many pleas at city hall and the state legislature were heard to support this project, which was a gross and dark period of the City of Tacoma's history.

  • fred davie August 9, 2013

    Regarding your claim that there were "many pleas to support the project," I don't believe it. People who were genuinely interested in the project had years to donate to make it a reality and very few showed any interest. The only reason the public is on the hook is because the non-profit reconciliation park organization couldn't attract any interest and dropped the project. Also, did you know that a wound heals more slowly when you keep picking at the scab?

    • Xeno August 9, 2013

      Clearly I can't force you to believe anything despite the facts there. 1) There was a citizen committee that called upon City Council to recognize. 2) A Ting is an expensive venture, yet you fail to recognize that the City of Fuzhou's Vice Mayor donated the entire Ting expenses and materials to the site. 3) No one else here would agree with your last statement or the City Council at the time. Recognition comes healing, wounds fester if untreated. You need to open the wound for it to scab and heal.

  • joe-nate August 10, 2013

    How ironic that Tacoma is a city built to embrace Asian trade opportunities with its status as original terminus of the old Northern Pacific Railroad and yet cultural symbols of Asia still make some Tacomans uncomfortable. The greatest painters of this region of the last seventy-plus years were inspired by Asian artistic traditions. One only hopes that visitors will find the serenity at the Old Town park that also makes the Lan Su Classical Chinese Garden in downtown Portland so attractive. Tacoma needs a free-access garden-style park along Puget Sound, a place to not only remember the past but for folks in uplands neighborhoods to enjoy calm and beauty by the sea amid carefully placed landscaped elements--and to ponder the future . That is happening with this Old Town park--its improvement deserves ongoing support.

  • fred davie August 10, 2013

    " That is happening with this Old Town park—its improvement deserves ongoing support." joe-nate Well that begs the question: did you provide any MONETARY support (i.e. a donation) to the reconciliation park project and if so how much? And I would ask Xeno the same question. Did you provide any direct money to this cause you hold so highly, or are you more of a lip service type advocate?

    • Xeno August 11, 2013

      No, I'm more than comfortable with the State grant program that was utilized that helps preserve historical monuments as outlined under this article. My taxes donate to this project and I'm a happy taxpayer because of it. Each park that the City of Tacoma maintains and builds doesn't go through some ridiculous donation process. Parks are maintained through my property taxes and they in turn are correlated with preserving and raising house value. We don't live in some libertarian pipe dream where we fund everything through direct support from the local bake sale.

  • fred davie August 11, 2013

    "Each park that the City of Tacoma maintains and builds doesn’t go through some ridiculous donation process." xeno We aren't discussing "each park" in Tacoma. We're discussing Reconciliation Park. And yes, it did go through a donation process. The city council WANTED the park to be built 100% by donations. I thought you were a student of history. Don't you want to know the history of Reconciliation Park? Almost NOBODY donated anything. Hard to claim there was a groundswell of support for the park.

  • Xeno August 12, 2013

    Hmmm 1.1 million has been donated in cash and 4.0 in the Ting and Land. Valuation is at 10 million after phases I and II making it over 50% in donations. Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm. I also read the City Council Resolution that seems to not stipulate anything about 100% of donations. That seems funny doesn't it? Independent of that we don't hold any of our other parks to this level of support. In fact it has had more support in donations than many parks in Tacoma. Amazing! Such a groundswell this project has!

  • fred davie August 12, 2013

    The City would provide space for the non-profit to build a park and the non-profit group would raise the money. The non-profit FAILED to raise the money. You admit this in your posting. At no time were tax payers informed that the park would be built with tax money. The taxpayers involvement was to allow the park to be built on city property. There's no sense comparing OTHER parks to Reconciliation Park. Reconciliation Park was to be built with private donated funds on city property. OTHER parks were not created this way. Why do you insist on confusing the history of Reconciliation Park with the history of other parks? What's the point? Apparently you are less interested in preserving history than in rewriting it.

    • Xeno August 12, 2013

      I'm not seeing anything again in the City Resolution stating this effect of total private donation. In fact if you read lines 6 & 7, page 2 of the 1993 resolution on the website it states seeking "public & private funds for this purpose [Chinese Reconciliation Park]." Case closed, TKO, thanks for playing.

  • Sid August 12, 2013

    Maybe the owners of the properties that continue to make S. 38th st. in Lincoln District horrible can contribute to the cause by making their immediate areas more presentable. This would greatly improve the perception of the Asian community in our area. Oh wait, they don't really care. The city of Tacoma cares more about Asian culture and how it is part of our fabric than they do. These folks could care less, they just want to come into town, make their money and leave the place looking like a dump. Let them take care of this park and see how it looks after one week. They laugh at the city when they try to enforce the care of our neighborhoods, but we continue to give and please

  • tacoma1 August 12, 2013

    Sid You should flip over your calendar. It's no longer 1885.

  • Sid August 13, 2013

    Believe me when I tell you if you spend more than a couple of years in the Lincoln District, it is very much like 1885.