‘We’re all very excited’: Major expansion planned for this Bellingham community park
A nearly $5 million expansion of Cordata Park starts this month — adding a pavilion that can be rented, trails, sports facilities such as a pickleball court and a community meeting space for residents of Bellingham’s northern neighborhoods.
Bellingham City Council members unanimously approved a bid for construction of the park’s second phase at their April 10 meeting.
“The objective is to broaden the range of recreational opportunities,” Jonathan Schilk, the city’s landscape architect, told the council’s Parks and Recreation Committee.
Construction is expected to start before the end of May and finish in January, said Nicole Oliver, director of the Parks and Recreation Department.
The project will be paid for through park impact fees and the Greenways Four taxpayer-approved levy.
“We’re all very excited for Phase II construction to get underway this year,” Oliver said at the meeting.
Oliver told The Bellingham Herald that the trail connections would provide an important walking and biking link between Horton and Stuart roads.
Trees will be planted to provide shade in the park, which is mostly open space with small plants, she said.
Most importantly, the enclosed pavilion will create a gathering place for 78 people, and it will have a kitchen, restrooms, and a patio with an overhead trellis, she said.
“This is going to be a rentable space for the community on the north side, which they don’t have any now,” Oliver told the council.
“I’m really excited that this is coming forward. I know that the community is really anticipating the second phase being completed,” she said.
Park has 25 acres plus amenities
Cordata Park opened in September 2020 with 25 acres that include a playground, parkour, a bicycle pump track and restrooms.
Much of the playground is covered in cushioned material — rather than sand, gravel or wood chips — that makes it accessible to people with difficulty walking or who use a mobility aid, and for parents or caregivers with strollers.
It also features an exercise area for grown-ups as well as kids, chimes, a covered picnic shelter and a splash pad that’s open in summer.
In addition to the pavilion, phase two includes a covered stage, a lighted picnic shelter with tables, pickleball and basketball courts, a “skate dot” for novice skaters, and a new parking area for 50 cars and electric-car charging stations.
This story was originally published May 4, 2023 at 6:44 AM.
