City to buy 12 acres to expand this trail and park on Bellingham’s north side
Bellingham is buying a tract of land west of Meridian Street, a mostly wetland area that will add to Cordata Park and provide easier pedestrian and bicycle access to Meridian Street.
City Council members voted unanimously Monday, Feb. 28, to buy 12 acres at 4447 Meridian St. for $680,000, using funds collected from the Greenways levy for parks, trails and open space.
“This actually kind of backs on to Cordata Park,” Council President Michael Lilliquist said at the City Council meeting Monday.
“A lot of it has wetlands on it, it really isn’t an appropriate place to develop. A lot of that would be to expand on that area and expand a trail through that park,” he said.
Cordata Park, a 25-acre site that offers a playground, pump track, parkour area and a splash zone, opened in 2020 after years of efforts to provide open space and recreational opportunities for residents of the city’s northern neighborhoods.
Monday’s purchase is a wooded area behind the Michael’s and BevMo retail stores near Stuart Road.
In the near future, the city plans to build a trail through the site that will give Cordata-area residents easier access to Meridian Street, said Peter Gill, parks planning and development coordinator.
“This will be good for walkers and bikers over there,” Gill told The Bellingham Herald.
Planning, permitting and construction of the trail will “take some time,” Gill said, because it traverses wetlands and will require the city to build a boardwalk.
Closing of the deal with property owner “Lilly” Horng of British Columbia was planned for mid-March, he said.
