MUKILTEO — Behind a metal fence, a 100-foot-long strip of sand, mud and gravel separates the historic lighthouse at Elliot Point from Lighthouse Park’s parking lot.
Workers drive earth-moving equipment over layers of dirt and gravel, preparing the foundation of what will soon be a new pedestrian walkway connecting the 12-acre waterfront park’s playground and beach areas to the lighthouse and a cul-de-sac that will allow Front Street drivers an easier way to turn around.
The $1.7 million project has been a challenge for the city. It juggled the needs of boaters, park-goers, commuters and nearby businesses while negotiating with federal and state authorities over changes to the park and its historic lighthouse grounds. The work was part of its Lighthouse Park Master Plan, approved in 2004.
By mid-July, work on the second of four phases should be complete. The other phases will be completed as money becomes available, officials say. Those changes could include moving the boat launch, perhaps blocks away to the site of a decommissioned fuel tank site, and building a second park entrance.
“The biggest problem has been that it doesn’t look very nice,” public works director Larry Waters said of the Front Street entrance leading into the park. “Truckers have gone down there and gotten jammed up.”
Their work is the latest in ongoing park remodeling.
“I think it’s great,” said Carol Somes of Arlington, as she ate lunch along the park’s beach. “I think it would make it more attractive.”
Many improvements have already been implemented.
Phase one upgrades included a new playground, remodeled restrooms, new volleyball courts and a rotunda for special events such as weddings.
Phase two, which began last year and will wrap up in July, includes the cul-de-sac behind the lighthouse, a pedestrian pathway, more restrooms, a bandshell foundation and more beachside plantings. Utility poles along Front Street will come down within weeks and workers will bury power lines along the western portion Front Street that leads in and out of the park.
“We’re on the cutting edge,” said Heather McCartney, Mukilteo’s planning and community development director who is overseeing the upgrade. “This is like rolling out the red carpet and a welcome, yet the welcome’s going to echo back to the fact that the Snohomish people welcomed our founding fathers to this site.”
That history dates back to 1855, before Washington was a state.
It’s the year the U.S. government signed the Treaty of Point Elliott with Puget Sound-area Indians. That treaty essentially transferred large tracts of Native American lands to the government.
For years, the state owned and operated the park and the U.S. Coast Guard ran the lighthouse. In 2001, the Coast Guard transferred ownership of the 104-year-old lighthouse to the city and in 2004, the state transferred ownership of the park to Mukilteo.
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429, ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
Key dates in the history of Lighthouse Park
1906: The lighthouse was built and constructed of fir at a cost of $27,000 with a design by German architect Carl Leick. A news headline read, “Lamp lit in new Mukilteo tower.”
1927: Electricity installed.
1960: The U.S. Coast Guard announced its intentions to replace the Fresnel lens with modern optics. Residents’ protests saved the lens.
1977: Placed on the National Register of Historic Sites.
1979: Lens automated.
1991: Coast Guard leased the lighthouse to Mukilteo.
1992: Tours started in the spring by volunteers from the Mukilteo Historical Society.
1995-97: Fundraiser to replace lobby floor with commemorative tiles. The floor was finished in April 1997.
1997: Mukilteo paid for removal of toxic lead paint from the exteriors of the two keeper’s houses.
2001: Ownership turned over to Mukilteo. The Mukilteo Historical Society has people who serve as as docents, gardeners and dedicated keepers.
Courtesy: Mukilteo Historical Society
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