LAKE STEVENS — The city is turning the empty house at Lundeen Park into its first official visitor center.
Though Lake Stevens is the fifth largest city in Snohomish County, and includes the county’s largest lake, it hasn’t had a dedicated information center for visitors or business owners. The city and the Lake Stevens Chamber of Commerce are working together to renovate the Lundeen House and hope to move the Chamber’s office, the city’s economic development coordinator and the new visitor center into the building in May or June.
“It’s always been my vision that the Chamber should operate a visitor center,” said Doug Warren, president of the Chamber of Commerce. “I’d like to be in there before school’s out and the park gets real busy and visitors start coming.”
Lake Stevens Mayor John Spencer, who took office in January, wanted the Chamber and the city’s economic development team to “get locked at the hip,” he said. There needs to be someplace people can go to get questions answered, whether it’s a visitor looking for directions and recommendations, or a business owner wondering how to settle or grow in the city.
“The whole end game of this is to make sure people in the city and out of the city have a place to go to get information,” Spencer said. “We’ve really got to get on this because we’re one of the biggest cities in Snohomish County and the only lake of this size, so we can’t just be ignored.”
Lundeen Park, on Lundeen Parkway near its intersection with 99th Ave. NE, sits on property that was once part of a well-known resort. The Lundeen family started building a resort on Lake Stevens in 1904. It became famous for its lively dance hall, busy ballfields and popular swimming beach, according to historical information from Snohomish County planning documents. When Spencer and his wife were dating, they could hear music from the dance hall when they were at the lake, he said.
The dance hall burned down more than 50 years ago and the resort property was sold in the late 1960s. Snohomish County bought an 8.7-acre parcel in 1977 to turn into a park, which the city now owns and maintains.
The house that is to become the visitor center was built in 1992, according to county property records. It was for a park ranger or caretaker. The city more recently rented it out as a private residence. It’s been empty for several years, Spencer said.
The house is about 1,200 square feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Exterior remodeling is under way this week to redo the porch, create a walkway and a wheelchair-accessible ramp and landscape around the building. Interior remodels are planned next to create an open foyer for the information center and two private offices, one for the Chamber and one for the economic development coordinator. The house’s bathrooms are to be updated into handicapped-accessible public restrooms. Crews also are cleaning up and landscaping the park, and the removal of trees and brush around the house improves visibility and safety, Warren said.
Spencer expects the work to take at least a month and a half.
Lundeen Park also has a swimming area, dock, picnic shelter, basketball court and playground. The Chamber plans to host barbecues there this summer, including one to celebrate the visitor center once it opens.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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