Point Defiance Jan. 29 Public Meeting Wrap Up

Thank you to all who attended last night’s Point Defiance Park Master Plan public meeting at the Point Defiance Pagoda. 

One hundred twenty-two people signed in. Project managers gave some great presentations, and citizens asked some great questions about the future of the park. 

The meeting was the kickoff to the final phase of the Master Plan process, which began several years ago. Metro Parks planners are now working with the public to refine a Concept Plan for the park that was crafted in 2008 with citizen help through more than 100 public meetings, plus phone calls, emails and other input. 

As Gareth Roe of BCRA, the firm helping Metro Parks finish the plan and create a permitting agreement with the City of Tacoma, said in the meeting, “We’re not starting from scratch.”

But we do need more input as the Master Plan moves through this final stage. Please give your input. There are many ways.

• Attend the next public meeting. 

  The next Master Plan public meeting will be at 6 pm Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Pagoda; this meeting will focus on the buildings that might be constructed to carry out the concepts crafted by the public and Metro Parks. 

  (Another meeting, at 6 pm Wednesday, Feb. 18, in the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Education Building, will focus on zoo capital projects.) 

  There will be two more Master Plan public meetings, on March 26 and April 23.

• Give Input Directly 

  Visit DestinationPointDefiance.org to use a new interactive tool that allows you to answer questions about the park and see what others are saying.You can try it out here.

• Contact Project Managers

  Give project managers a call, or send an email or Postal Service letter. Telephone calls and letters have long been available as ways to interact with Metro Parks; computers are not necessary. 

  You can contact Chief Planning Manager Doug Fraser at (253) 305-1019, at dougf@tacomaparks.com, or by writing to:
  Metro Parks Tacoma c/o Doug Fraser
  4702 S 19th St.
  Tacoma WA 98405. 

  We have distributed this contact information to libraries, community centers and government offices throughout Tacoma. If you have neighbors who want to take part in the process and can’t easily use the Web tools, please help us by pointing out these methods as well.

We’ll post more updates at DestinationPointDefiance.org