The grounds of the closed Sunset Elementary School are a few steps closer to becoming a neighborhood park.
“Things are looking extremely hopeful,” said Lynn Huston, of the group Friends of Sunset Park, the group that’s fundraising to make the school into a park. “But we need more money in the bank before we can make it happen.”
Specifically, the group hopes to start a visioning process in February and wrap it up by summer.
At least three community meetings would be held to draw input about what to develop in the park and how it could be funded, Huston said.
For example, ideas have been tossed around that range from a P-patch garden to a skate park, but no decisions have been made about what the park would look like. It’s also not decided whether the school building would come down or how the park would be paid for.
The Friends group is well on its way to funding those meetings, Huston said, but they still have more fundraising to do. The group’s initial fundraising goal is $30,000, and that’s not just for visioning meetings, Huston said.
Once the visioning process is done, group members will have a specific proposal and a better idea of how much money they will need to raise to develop the park, which will kick off a second round of fundraising.
Since July, group members have been meeting with officials to narrow down the process.
The City of Shoreline recently pitched in to the project with a $5,000 matching grant awarded to the Richmond Highlands Neighborhood Association.
Sunset Elementary School was closed starting last school year, but it’s now used as a de facto park by locals who come to the playground, basketball courts and play area to hang out, ride bicycles or walk their dogs. Sports teams use the fields.
However, the grounds have suffered from graffiti and vandalism.
That’s why Huston and other parents met with Shoreline School District officials last year and came up with the idea of making Sunset into a city park.
The group has grown from about 85 members on the listserv in July to about 135 people now.
District officials have committed to keeping the property open for a possible park. No district funds would be used and officials can take back the land for a school if they need it in the future.
According to enrollment projections, that won’t happen any time soon.
District officials have also set up an account to receive tax-deductible donations.
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