‘Extraordinary donation opportunity’ as couple offers future parkland to Bellingham
Whatcom County residents and visitors could one day enjoy a new botanical garden in the Columbia neighborhood in Bellingham.
Patricia and Robert Lundquist have indicated they want to donate the .55-acre parcel, known as the Lundquist Woods, that they have lived on for 45 years to the city. Their request is that it remain as a park in perpetuity.
“This is a really extraordinary donation opportunity,” Nicole Oliver, director of the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department, said to the City Council in a meeting earlier in December.
The property is assessed at $419,000, she said, “but it’s certainly worth more than that.”
The proposed donation is in the beginning stages, Oliver told The Bellingham Herald, with the couple asking the City Council to approve the idea in concept so they can continue with their estate planning.
The City Council did so at its Dec. 14 meeting.
Council member Michael Lilliquist thanked the Lundquists for the generous offer of their property.
“It’s beautiful,” Lilliquist said, adding that he liked the idea of the property as a public asset but that more work needed to be done, including assessing the cost to the city of taking over.
Located at the end of Jefferson Street and overlooking Squalicum Creek, the property is zoned single-family. The Lundquists want to live there until the end of their lives, then donate the property to the city as a public park.
The property includes a 1940s single-family home, a gazebo, several water features, a vegetable garden, art, paths and places to sit.
“They said that they stewarded this property” and grew these beautiful trees, Oliver said to The Herald, adding that the couple said they didn’t have any children and felt it could perhaps serve as a sanctuary.
Oliver has seen the property, as have the city’s arborist — who said the trees there were well maintained — and Mayor Seth Fleetwood.
The Bellingham Parks and Recreation Advisory Board have approved the proposed donation, according to Oliver.
The Lundquist Woods could require the help of a team of volunteers to maintain it, similar to what’s provided at Big Rock Garden by the Friends of Big Rock Garden.
Oliver said to the City Council that the closest parallel Bellingham would have would be Big Rock Garden Park, which is entirely fenced but open to the public and has volunteers and city staff that work to keep it in tip-top shape.
Located at 2900 Sylvan St. off Alabama Street, Big Rock Garden is a 2.5-acre public park that combines nature with outdoor sculptures.
As for Lundquist Woods, it also could be rented out so the city could receive some revenue to help run the future park. Oliver said there’s been at least one wedding there.
The thought is that it could be a fenced botanical garden, she said to the City Council, and could include a community garden.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
