Fort Nisqually to temporarily close in January and February, reopen in March

Department of Ecology to remediate soil as part of its ongoing Tacoma Smelter Plume cleanup

Fort Nisqually Living History Museum will temporarily close in January and February 2016 as the state Department of Ecology undertakes its latest soil cleanup project.

“We’re in between events in the winter months, so this is the best time for the project,” said Lane Sample, acting museum supervisor. “In the meantime, staff will be working and getting ready for our spring season.”

The project is part of Ecology’s ongoing work to clean up contaminants spread over 1,000 square miles of the Puget Sound basin by the former Asarco copper smelter that operated in Tacoma for a century. 

The state remediated soil at Baltimore and Optimist parks earlier in 2015 and also has cleaned up Vassault Park, Titlow Park and Jane Clark Park, along with numerous private yards throughout Tacoma in recent years.

A settlement from Asarco includes $94.6 million to fund the cleanup projects. Visit Ecology’s website for more information here or dirtalert.info.

The work will begin inside the Fort, continue to a nearby parking lot and then to the meadow outside the palisades. Once the work is finished, fresh sod will be placed and protected so it can take root, and visitors will benefit from new pathways inside the Fort. 

Fort staff will be available during the temporary closure at (253) 591-5339 or fortnisqually@tacomaparks.com. 

The Fort will reopen to the public in March, and its first event of 2016 will be Sewing to Sowing on April 23.

Located in Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park, Fort Nisqually Living History Museum is a restoration of the Hudson’s Bay Company outpost on Puget Sound. Visitors travel back in time and experience life in Washington Territory. Nine buildings are open to the public, including the Granary and the Factors House, both National Historic Landmarks, and a Visitor Center with Museum Store. Fort Nisqually Living History Museum is a facility of Metro Parks Tacoma.