Swan Creek Park Public Meeting - Tomorrow

Metro Parks is planning for some exciting improvements to Swan Creek Park. The East Tacoma park is one of Tacoma’s larger parks, about half the size of Point Defiance, and there are big plans for its future. The Master Plan completed last year for the park revealed priorities, many coming out of public workshops. At a public meeting this Wednesday they’ll share the plans for $1 million worth of planned improvements that will be funded by a Parks Improvement Bond Measure approved by voters in November 2005.

The park sits on the boundary between East Tacoma and Pierce County and includes a salmon bearing stream, wooded canyon, upland forest, paved and natural trails, and a new community garden. The vision for the future of the park, as expressed in the Master Plan establishes a vision that includes a wide variety of uses, developed through collaborative efforts with groups and individuals in the community.

PROJECT VISION
The Master Plan reflects the community’s vision of Swan Creek Park as a greenspace that protects the creek and the forests at the site, while supporting outdoor programs and activities such as environmental education, community gardening, urban
camping, hiking, biking, and picnicking. This vision blends a desire for recreation and public access to nature with a need to steward and protect the wildlife habitat and natural resources found at the park. While the plan includes a strategy for site development, it also includes a management strategy to address the health of the forest, the removal of invasives, the protection of rare plants, the mitigation of fire hazards, and the protection of Swan Creek and its canyon corridor from encroachment.

The Swan Creek Park Master Plan provides direction for the acquisition, design, development, programming, restoration, and ongoing maintenance and stewardship of the park. These tasks are all collaborative efforts, which rely on other agencies, partners, volunteers, and jurisdictions for support. Implementing this plan will require continued coordination among each and all of these groups to achieve the vision set
forth in this master plan.

With so many goals and so much collaboration needed, they’ll be prioritizing the work to address “the most immediate and practical needs identified in the bond program as well as the longer term objectives identified in the master planning process.” Learn more at the public meeting.

Swan Creek Park Public Meeting
When: Wednesday, July 11, 6:00 p.m.
Where: Portland Avenue Community Center, 3513 Portland Avenue
Details: www.MetroParksTacoma.org/Swan-Creek-Park

Previously from Exit133: Swan Creek – What’s Your Vision?