Marysville may buy acreage for new parks
Published 11:04 pm Wednesday, August 15, 2007
MARYSVILLE [—] Building a few new softball and soccer fields won’t meet all the needs for places to play outdoors in Marysville, but that would be a step in the right direction, city officials say.
They’ve been talking to Frontier Bank and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife about buying 35 acres of property between 160th Street NE and 164th Street NE, a couple of blocks east of Smokey Point Boulevard.
“We’re in the preliminary discussion stages” on the Frontier Bank property, city attorney Grant Weed said.
Whether the city buys the land, it plans to build some fields somewhere, somehow, sometime, officials said. No cost estimates or designs have been developed for any of the ideas.
The city is looking for a site with room for four to six fields designed for competitive sports, parks director Jim Ballew said.
“For a growing population, we have to keep up with the need,” he said.
For years, sports groups have been telling city officials they need more space, Ballew said.
The city only has two parks with multiple fields: Jennings Park at 6915 Armar Road, and Strawberry Fields on 152nd Street NE between 51st and 67th avenues NE. Two neighborhood parks, Northpointe Park at 7818 70th St. NE and Harborview Park at 4700 60th Ave. NE, have one small field each.
City softball and kickball programs use the Marysville-Pilchuck High School field, as does Marysville Youth Soccer, Ballew said. The city pays the Marysville School District $14 per use and contributes to the upkeep of the fields, he said.
It’s common for cities to have such agreements with school districts, said Greg Erickson, athletic director for the school district.
“The demand is so high for field use, I don’t know if we’ll ever have enough,” Erickson said.
The property at the north end of the city, if it pans out, could provide land not only for sports fields but for trails, Marysville officials said. The state property, about 10 acres, contains wetlands and could complement the sports fields with open space.
The Frontier Bank property under discussion is about 25 acres, Mayor Dennis Kendall said. The Everett-based bank “came to us about a year ago” and offered the property, Kendall said.
“It would make just a beautiful park,” said Jim Ries, president of real estate for Frontier Bank.
The earliest any new fields could be available is the spring of 2009, Kendall said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
