$2.5M in upgrades ahead for Silver Lake park playground, trail

Published 1:30 am Monday, July 18, 2022

EVERETT — New playground equipment, a new roof on a historic building and a long-sought trail are on the horizon for Silver Lake in south Everett.

The Everett City Council is expected to vote next week on projects for Thornton A. Sullivan Park and the Silver Lake Trail loop.

Replacing the 25-year-old playground is estimated to cost $1.2 million.

Building a paved trail through the park, which eventually will connect with the rest of the Silver Lake Trail loop, has a $1.33 million budget.

Designing a replacement roof for the Dome, a unique building at the park, is $30,000.

The current playground was installed in 1997 and has become one of the most visited in the city, parks director Bob Leonard told the council last week. Everett’s parks department generally has a 15-year cycle for that equipment, which made Sullivan’s due for replacement.

The old playground gear’s fate is up to the contractor doing the work and likely to be recycled or sent to a landfill, Leonard said.

The new equipment is designed to be inclusive for children with mobility limitations, with auditory, tactile and other sensory stimulation. Some of the post tops will replicate tree canopy and cattails, and the surface will be blue in some areas like the nearby water to “capture the spirit of camping and boating, our forests, and Silver Lake itself — all of which are synonymous with Thornton A. Sullivan Park,” Leonard said.

Construction could start this summer and conclude early next year.

Silver Lake Trail will be a two-mile paved path around the 104-acre body of water when finished. Some of it will use existing sidewalks, but the portion through Sullivan Park needs drainage work and a new 10-foot-wide asphalt surface to be accessible.

The old Bothne House, once the homestead of Hans Bothne, a Norwegian immigrant who later opened and ran a resort on the lake, is slated for demolition on the south end of the park.

Long-range plans for the lake include boardwalks over some areas, notably the northeast section which would take pedestrians away from the tight corner of Bothell-Everett Highway.

The Dome, sometimes called the Silverdome, used to be an old Bible camp building, said Councilmember Ben Zarlingo, a longtime Silver Lake neighbor. It needs a new roof and support. City staff are starting with a design, which will provide an estimate for costs to remove, repair and replace the existing roof structure.

“From the outside you wouldn’t expect it, but the inside is architecturally stunning,” Councilmember Paula Rhyne said.

Ben Watanabe: 425-339-3037; bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @benwatanabe.