Politics & Government

Two Of Eight Pierce County Projects To Receive State Wildlife Funding In University Place

The city will get $750,000t create the Leach Creek park, for which the city acquired land from the Tacoma School District earlier this year. It will also use $100,000 for the Playground by the Sound.

The grant dollars just keep coming into University Place.

that used to be Tacoma School District property officially got a financial boost from the state today, and so did a future community playground at Chambers Creek Properties.

The money comes from the state's Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, which is through the Recreation and Conservation Office.

Find out what's happening in University Placewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city will get a $750,000 Leach Creek grant to create a community park with play fields, picnic shelters and walking paths.

In April, the city purchased almost 28 acres of land on its west end from the school district. At the time, they had planned to use dollars from the county's conservation futures program, and UP had to match $65,000.

Find out what's happening in University Placewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

UPDATE: Public Works and Parks Director Gary Cooper says earlier this year, it won $650,000 from the county's Conservation Futures Program. Now, the state allowed the city to reduce its original request for $750,000 to $65,000 to cover the city's portion of the cost.

"The end result," Cooper says, "is the citizens of UP gained 15 acres of parkland with no money out of the parks budget!"

Also, the group trying to build a officially got a $100,000 boost for the project.

The Playground by the Sound is scheduled to be built - all by volunteers - in September.

Here is a list of other projects that received funding:

• Peninsula Metropolitan Park will use the $1.26 million DeMolay Property Acquisition grant to protect locally treasured shoreline on Fox Island from development and to create a park that will provide waterfront access.

• The City of Sumner will use the $979,000 Sumner Urban to Mountain Trail grant to build the missing link for 38 continuous miles of trail from Seattle's Interurban Trail to the Foothills Trail.

• The $587,372 Nisqually State Park-Acquisitions grant will be used to purchase two properties immediately outside of Nisqually State Park that are slated for development.

• The City of University Place will use the $750,000 Leach Creek grant to create a community park with playfields, picnic shelters and walking paths.

• The Town of Eatonville will use the $700,000 Bud Blancher Memorial Trail grant to create a multi use trail that connects to the UW's Pack Forest.

• The City of Tacoma will use the $500,000 Franklin Park Development grant to improve the existing park and replace a wading pool with a spray ground.

• Pierce County will use $125,000 Frontier Park Renovation-Inclusive Playground grant to replace unsafe playground equipment.

• Pierce County will use the $100,000 Playground by the Sound grant to build a community playground within the local trail system at Chambers Creek Properties.


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