Everett Public-Private Partnership: 3P’s For Parks & Rec
Who doesn’t like taking the ferry boat out to Jetty Island for a day at the beach or snuggling with bunnies at the Forest Park Animal Farm? Many of our elders rely on the senior center for social connection and activities. Countless kids have learned to swim and dive in the deep Forest Park Swim Center over the years. All of these things that we love about Everett are on the chopping block.
The City of Everett is going into 2021 with an $18 million deficit and, as a result, the city is facing cuts in all its departments. These cuts may include keeping the cuts that were made earlier this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as making new cuts in multiple areas. This is difficult because it means our community may be losing services that we desperately need and appreciate. Parks and Community Services is one area experiencing losses and this will impact our recreation opportunities.
With the Animal Farm closed this year, we wonder where this fella is living.
With 45 park properties, 2 municipal golf courses, and a variety of other park facilities such as an Animal Shelter, Senior Center, and Swim Center, I know I am only one of many Everett residents who enjoy taking advantage of recreation and the great outdoors at Everett’s parks.
One way Everett is looking to continue providing the recreation activities we’ve become accustomed to is through public-private partnerships (3Ps). Organizations can submit their ideas for how they would like to use specific park properties. In this way, the city hopes to keep more park property in use, to generate revenue and to continue to provide great recreation opportunities to Everett residents.
Are you longing to get back to Jetty Island?
In the RFP, the City of Everett has listed some of the underutilized assets as well as open space for recreation and community. Here are just a few ideas for use of these assets:
What if a non-profit that works with Seniors were to take over operation of Carl Gipson Senior Center? What if healthcare training programs were to rent rooms in the facility?
A non-profit could grow fruit and vegetables in the Legion Park Horticulture and Greenhouse Area for their clients or maybe a local nursery needs more space. Maybe a local business wants to sponsor a community garden?
How about a summer camp at Forest Park Animal Farm Area and Fieldhouse where students care for animals and allow public access for education? What about a Montessori program setting up shop in the old preschool classroom?
High Trek Adventures has a public-private partnership with Snohomish County Parks at Paine Field Community Park.
Snohomish County Parks has partnered with High Tech Adventures to offer ropes courses, zip lines, mini-golf and laser tag at some of its parks. Maybe we could have some of those things in our parks. It’s been a long time since the mini-golf was shut down on old-Broadway.
Did you know there is a “Silverdome” at Silver Lake? It’s a 12,500 square foot dome! How about an indoor playground with a coffee shop for parents? There are a lot of possibilities for the space including indoor tennis, indoor BMX or paintball, drone races or even an indoor dog park!
Smaller parks are peppered throughout our city, such as Bayside Park on Grand Ave and Deer Park on 13th and 55th. Maybe a local restaurant wants to set up a food truck or a coffee kiosk?
Businesses could sponsor shelter animals while they wait for their new home // Christopher Bragg
Lions Park already features Click & Go Visually Impaired Wayfinding. A service animal training group could feature classes in that area.
Camp Patterson, while without campers this year, has a lot of potential! What about an organization sponsoring outside (and distanced) yoga classes? Or a non-profit using the shelters and land to offer arts programs and community plays, or even outdoor movie nights?
Imagine a local business investing in their community and having their name advertised on the outfield fence of Phil Johnson park. Or walking into Everett Animal Shelter and seeing the name of another local business on one of their rooms to honor their contribution.
What other uses can you think of for our park properties and open spaces? Until proposals are accepted and awarded by the city, the only limit on what could be done with these partnerships is our imaginations! The city has stated they hope to award multiple contracts, and with such a variety of properties and facilities available, we are on the precipice of some very exciting recreational opportunities for our community.
A full list of the developed park properties available for partnerships is found in Appendix A of the RFP.
Angela Di Filippo currently works in State Social Services and recently earned her Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with extensive training in evidence-based leadership coaching. Angela moved from North Carolina to Washington 6 years ago and has proudly called Everett her home for 5 of those years. When not helping others solve problems in creative and strength-driven ways, Angela enjoys her time painting, hiking with her terrier-mix, Indy, and eating waffles.
