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$30 million in King County Parks Levy grants will build and upgrade aquatic facilities, enhance parks and trails, restore river corridors, and increase equity in recreation
Summary
The King County Council voted 9-0 to approve Executive Dow Constantine’s proposal to allocate nearly $30 million in grants funded by the King County Parks Levy that will support 53 projects led by cities, park districts, school districts, and community organizations throughout the region.
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Executive Dow Constantine announced nearly $30 million in King County Parks Levy funding for 53 projects that will build and upgrade aquatic facilities, enhance parks and trails, protect and restore river corridors, and make access to healthy recreation more equitable.
The King County Council unanimously approved the funding package developed by Executive Constantine, who included a combined $110 million in grant funding in the voter-approved 2020-2025 Parks Levy. Grant recipients include cities, park districts, school districts, Tribes, and community organizations that contribute to healthy, welcoming parks, trails, and natural areas where people, families, and communities can gather, relax, and play.
"We are investing in community-led projects to grow and enhance King County’s already impressive parks, trails, and pools,” said Executive Constantine. “Whether you want to bike, hike, kayak, swim, or simply enjoy a safe, peaceful greenspace, you will have more options to gather, relax and play throughout King County and its cities thanks to these grants.”
Here are a few of the projects that will receive King County Parks Levy grants:
- Aquatic facilities at the Highline, Lake Washington, and Mercer Island school districts and the cities of Sammamish, Renton, and Enumclaw will receive a combined $5.75 million to improve accessibility, public safety, and energy efficiency.
- A few of the new park features will include a skatepark in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood, lighting at the North SeaTac Park BMX track, a new multi-use paved trail that connects businesses, schools, and the library in Fall City, and a community park with open space, restrooms, shelter, and gathering area in Kent.
- Seattle Parks and Recreation will receive $800,000 to advance its Garfield Super Block project that will offer a new multi-use court for tennis and basketball, the city’s first public parkour park, replace the restroom facility, and build a new loop path with ramps to make the space more accessible.
- Funding will support organizations that promote equitable access to healthy activities, such as After-School All-Stars' Puget Sound chapter that provides out-of-school and summer wellness and recreation programming for middle school students in underserved communities in Kent, Tukwila, and Federal Way.
- The City of Tukwila will receive $280,000 to design Chinook Wind Extension, which will connect new shoreline habitat that King County recently created along the Duwamish River to the upstream Duwamish Gardens park.
- Events that promote equitable access to parks and trails, including the Refuge Outdoor Festival, Sundaes Outside, Let’s Go Outside with The Nature Project, and Bike Works Seattle’s program that promotes cycling access for BIPOC youth, adults, and communities in Southeast Seattle and South King County.
- Improvements at King County’s Tanner Landing Park will make it safer and easier to kayak in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River.
- Multiple cities and park districts will receive funding to enhance parks, including $500,000 for the Si View Metropolitan Park District to construct an accessible adventure playground and soft-surface trails for an underserved area near North Bend.
Three Parks Levy Grants advisory committees provide policy guidance and award recommendations to Executive Constantine, who then submits an awards package to the County Council for approval. Committee members represent nonprofit and community-based organizations, tribes, city agencies, and others, and bring significant expertise and diverse perspectives to the grantmaking process.
This summer marks the halfway point for the six-year King County Parks Levy, which will expire at the end of 2025. King County Parks produced an update that shows progress it has made so far.
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Aquatic facilities
Lake Washington School District - $2 million
The Lake Washington School District will repair and upgrade vital pool and safety components and improve ADA accessibility at the Juanita Aquatics Center to better serve residents of Kenmore, Kirkland, and Bothell/Woodinville.
City of Sammamish - $223,165
The City of Sammamish will replace failing pool tiles and repair underlying construction issues at the Sammamish Aquatic Center to improve safety and accessibility for the communities of Sammamish, Issaquah, Preston, Redmond, and Fall City.
City of Snoqualmie - $1 million
The City of Snoqualmie will preserve and increase recreational access to residents of the Snoqualmie Valley through construction of a new pool.
City of Renton - $904,440
The City of Renton will complete capital improvements, including renovation of the leisure activity pool and improved accessibility of the Henry Moses Aquatic Center main entrance.
Mercer Island District No. 400 - $2 million
The Mercer Island School District will improve ADA access and repair the pool bowl and exterior siding of Mary Wayte Pool for Mercer Island and Eastside residents.
Highline Public Schools - $100,000
Highline Public Schools and Whitewater Aquatics Management will replace failing windows at Evergreen Pool to improve energy efficiency and ensure the safety of community members from White Center and Burien.
City of Covington - $2.5 million
The City of Covington will renovate or replace the existing Covington Aquatic Center to meet the community demand and deliver diverse programming for all ages in southeast King County.
City of Enumclaw - $526,309
The City of Enumclaw will replace the roof and upgrade the HVAC system at the Enumclaw Aquatic Center to ensure the facility safety for the residents of Enumclaw and southeast King County.
Healthy communities and parks
Bike Works Seattle - $187,500
Bike Works Seattle will increase diversity in cycling by providing bicycle access and education programs for BIPOC youth, adults, and communities in Southeast Seattle and South King County.
Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) - $155,000
Y-WE's Nature Connections program will provide outdoor recreation, environmental learning, and stewardship activities that center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and gender-expansive youth ages 13 to 18 in the greater Seattle area.
The Nature Project - $47,932
The Nature Project will partner with professional athlete mentors, outdoor skills providers, and local organizations serving BIPOC teens to increase access to outdoor recreation activities throughout King County.
Golden Bricks Events - $187,500
Golden Bricks Events will sustain and grow projects that provide community, share skills and resources, and increase representation for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the outdoors
Somali Cultural Center -- Somali Health Board - $115,708
The Hoops for Hope program builds community and interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline by providing linguistically appropriate recreation, mentoring, tutoring, and cultural activities for underserved East African and Muslim American immigrant youth.
Whitewater Aquatics Management - $103,495
The Evergreen Pool Learn and Swim program will improve access and safety by providing pool passes and 90-session swim lessons for 400 low-income youth in Burien and White Center.
Para Los Niños de Highline - $50,000
Para Los Niños de Highline will provide scholarships for 75-100 low-income Latino immigrant youth in South King County to participate in sports and outdoor activities conducted in Spanish and Indigenous languages, as well as English learning opportunities.
Concord International Elementary PTA -- Seattle Parks Foundation - $182,932
Concord International Elementary School will transform a field into a playground to provide crucial greenspace and recreation access to South Park children and families.
Rainier Prep - $65,000
Rainier Prep will add outdoor shelters to the school campus and provide transportation to outdoor recreation for limited-income Black, Indigenous, and People of Color students and families, to advance long-term community health and promote awareness of local green spaces around South Seattle.
After-School All-Starts Puget Sound - $199,398
The After-School All-Stars Puget Sound provides free out-of-school and summer wellness and recreation programming for a diverse population of middle school students in underserved areas of Kent, Tukwila, and Federal Way.
Open space: river corridors
Whale Scout - $177,483
Whale Scout will improve water quality for salmon and other wildlife, increase access, and encourage stewardship of public lands and waterways by engaging the community in restoration of the Sammamish River at the former Wayne Golf Course in Bothell.
City of Tukwila - $280,000
The Chinook Wind Extension design project will create plans to connect shoreline habitat and a missing public trail link between Duwamish Gardens and Chinook Wind parks in Tukwila.
EarthCorps - $679,977
EarthCorps will employ a community co-design approach and environmental justice lens to work with local high school students, community members, and other partners to restore important riparian habitat at multiple sites along the Duwamish River in Tukwila.
King County Parks - $894,900
The Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Access Improvements project will provide sustainable river access at two parks by constructing a new designated kayaking access in Tanner Landing Park and a new universally accessible trail and toilet building at Granite Creek Flats, while also restoring the riparian buffer at both sites.
King County Water and Land Resources Division - $550,000
This habitat restoration design project will support endangered salmonids within the floodplain by removing artificial constraints to restore hydrologic function at the confluence of the South Fork Skykomish and Miller rivers.
Snoqualmie Indian Tribe - $63,000
The Snoqualmie Tribe will build on progress made by the Tribe and partners to improve riparian conditions in the 3-Forks reach of the Snoqualmie River, while preserving public access to a treasured community resource.
King County Water and Land Resources Division - $1 million
The Snoqualmie at Fall City project will acquire about 130 acres at the confluence of the Snoqualmie and Raging Rivers for future restoration of floodplain function, improved salmon habitat, reduction of flood and erosion risks, and public access.
King County Parks - $1 million
The South Fork Snoqualmie River project will acquire a conservation easement on about 350 acres of undeveloped forested land along the South Fork Snoqualmie River to protect the land from future development and to allow low-impact public use.
Stewardship Partners - $49,500
Stewardship Partners will provide a voluntary agricultural landowner with technical assistance for implementing riparian habitat restoration and water quality improvement on the Snoqualmie River. The project will be promoted through community education and engagement with partners such as Nature Vision, Forterra, and local school groups.
City of Woodinville - $250,000
The City of Woodinville will explore the future construction of passive recreation opportunities, including a nonmotorized boat launch and habitat restoration on the Sammamish River.
City of Kent - $200,000
City of Kent will conduct a feasibility study, alternatives analysis, planning, and outreach to restore salmon habitat, reduce flood risk, and enhance recreation at Boeing Rock Park on the Green River.
King County Water and Land Resources Division - $1 million
The Northeast Auburn Creek Restoration project will remove an existing fish passage barrier, rehabilitate degraded floodplain habitat, and revegetate a critical section of riparian buffer to increase the size, accessibility, and quality of crucial rearing habitat for salmon in the Lower Green River.
Seattle Parks Foundation - $770,000
The Seattle Parks Foundation and the Ridge to River Coalition will engage the Duwamish Valley and West Seattle communities to articulate a vision for the West Duwamish Greenbelt as a natural and cultural resource, and to motivate future improvements of the Greenbelt.
King County Parks - $132,075
This acquisition will preserve and expand the large open space corridor along the Green River by purchasing undeveloped mature forest land adjacent to the Auburn Narrows Natural Area near the City of Auburn.
King County Parks - $410,000
This acquisition will purchase the last 3.5 acres of privately owned land within Kanaskat Natural Area along the Green River, which will allow for public access and extensive restoration at the site.
King County Water and Land Resources Division - $900,000
The Middle Green River Open Space Acquisition project will promote future habitat restoration projects and foster environmental education and recreation opportunities.
King County Water and Land Resources Division - $583,149
The Rutledge Johnson Floodplain Restoration project will reconnect up to 16 acres of Lower Cedar River floodplain, with the goal of restoring riverine processes that benefit salmonids including Chinook, coho, and steelhead, while also providing passive recreation adjacent to the Cedar River Trail.
Parks capital and open space
City of Shoreline - $598,451
The City of Shoreline will bring more open space and recreation to an underserved area by improving Brugger's Bog Park through removal of a dilapidated play area, restoration of critical areas, and development of a walking loop and boardwalk, new play area, and multi-sport court.
Seattle Parks and Recreation - $720,000
The City of Seattle will redesign Little Brook Park in northeast Seattle to improve safety, accessibility, visibility, and community gathering through a community garden, raised play area, and other amenities.
Seattle Parks and Recreation - $800,000
The Garfield Super Block project will renovate a multi-use park with new accessible connections, play and sports areas, and restrooms in the Central District of Seattle.
Seattle Parks and Recreation - $500,000
This project will design construction plans for the Kubota Garden Visitor Center including a courtyard, decks, all-gender restrooms, and displays of information about the garden and upcoming events.
Seattle Parks and Recreation - $850,000
The Rainier Beach Skatepark project will develop an unused section of open lawn at Rainier Beach Playfield and Community Center into an inclusive skate park with new ADA connections, picnic shelters, a loop pathway around the park, and other amenities.
Si View Metropolitan Park District - $500,000
This project will construct an accessible adventure playground, accessible soft-surface trails, and parking facilities for an underserved area of the Park District near North Bend.
Si View Metropolitan Park District - $526,800
Si View Metropolitan Park District will acquire 33.78 forested acres along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail in unincorporated King County to preserve open space and activate a new multi-use trail.
Fall City Metropolitan Park District - $500,000
This project will construct a multi-use paved trail with inclusive amenities to enhance public safety and quality of life for residents by connecting Fall City businesses, schools, the library, and residential areas.
City of Kent - $800,000
The City of Kent will create a community park with open space, restrooms, shelters, and a community gathering area to expand and improve recreation opportunities for underserved areas of Kent and surrounding communities in South King County.
City of SeaTac - $80,788
The City of SeaTac will replace 1,660 feet of wood fencing with metal chain link fence to improve usage and safety for activities in the Grandview Off-Leash Dog Park.
City of Normandy Park - $400,000
The City of Normandy Park will acquire a 0.76 acre parcel on Miller Creek to create an open space pocket park, restore habitat, and provide education opportunities and public access for viewing salmon in the watershed.
City of Des Moines - $456,000
The City of Des Moines will improve Midway Park through landscape design work, expanded community garden plots, and walkable pathways. This project will provide increased opportunities for physical activity, family gathering space, and community engagement.
City of SeaTac - $258,196
The City of SeaTac will add lighting for the racing surface and perimeter of the North SeaTac Park BMX track and facility to extend operating hours and host races later into the day.
City of Kent - $800,000
The City of Kent will renovate Springwood Park to include ADA walking paths, expanded children's play amenities, a multi-sports court, and other amenities.
City of Algona - $1 million
The City of Algona will remove invasive plant species, restore native wetland habitat, and construct an accessible boardwalk with an interpretive trail and viewing platforms to provide outdoor education and increased access to parks and open spaces.
Vashon-Maury Island Park and Recreation District - $300,000
The BARC Skate Building Improvement project will enclose BARC's open-air facility, replace the roof, and add ADA-compliant seating to increase accessibility and allow for usage year-round.
City of Maple Valley - $100,000
The City of Maple Valley will increase public access and provide active and passive recreation opportunities through development of trail facilities at the undeveloped Henry's Switch parkland.
City of Renton - $800,000
The City of Renton will construct a new pedestrian trail and bridge along a segment of the May Creek Greenway. The trail will pass through a conserved riparian habitat, include interpretive signage and seating that will connect with existing and planned trails serving communities near Renton and Newcastle.