Bellingham Parks & Recreation Leisure Guide
Issue link: https://bpr.uberflip.com/i/1530293
cob.org/parks • (360) 778-7000 1 As we settle into winter, I'm focusing my letter on our incredible accomplishments of 2024. Thank you to all our Parks & Recreation staff who work everyday to maintain, improve, program and staff Bellingham's incredible park and trail system, and thank you all for using our parks and programs! 2024 Achievements • Renewed and increased Greenways 5 Levy through 2034 and purchased more acreage than any prior year of the Greenways program dating back to 1990! • Created 10 new positions in the department. • Generated $1.3 million from park programs and facility rentals. • Collected $2.4 million in revenue at Lake Padden Golf Course and cut water use by 25%. • Opened Cordata Park phase two with pavilion, pickleball courts, summer camps and programs. • Processed more than 1,400 park facility reservations. • Mowed back 72 miles of trails and spread 1,070 tons of gravel. • Planted 50 trees and over 5,200 native plants and orchestrated 13,286 volunteer hours. • Started construction on Little Squalicum Pier, Sunset Pond Loop Trail and Boulevard Park shoreline enhancement. • Offered approximately 300 Community Recreation programs; 1,250 youth attended summer camps and 220 adult sports teams played in our leagues with an additional 52 teams waitlisted. • Restructured Parks Volunteer and Steward Programs with new protocols and training. • Coordinated with WWU for House of Healing (Coast Salish Long House) in the Sehome Arboretum. • Opened new King Mountain Community Garden. • Completed major repairs and energy upgrades to Civic Stadium, Bloedel Donovan Community Building and the Sportsplex. • Engaged public and stakeholders to update the Master Plan for Civic Athletic Complex. • Worked with developers to build and dedicate new park amenities including Northern Lights Park. • Completed Master Plan for Storybrook Park and design of phase 1 to be built in 2025. • Reclassified aquatic and lifeguard positions to improve hiring and retention. • Acquired multiple long sought after key properties and easements. • Obtained permits for Salish Landing Park to be built with the cleanup of the former Cornwall Avenue landfill. • Installed low-impact wayfinding signage in Hundred Acre Wood. • Installed the Waypoint Park Portland Loo. Happy New Year! Nicole C. Oliver Parks & Recreation Director Fall at Sunset Pond, Photo by Jeff rey Barclay We acknowledge that we gather on territory that has been the traditional and ancestral homeland to the Lhaq'temish (the Lummi people), Noxws'áʔaq (the Nooksack people), and other Coast Salish tribes of this region Since Time Immemorial. We honor our shared responsibility to this land and these waters, we commit to learning from Indigenous wisdom, and we strive to repair and deepen our relationships as neighbors and friends. Director's Letter