White Center’s Hicks Lake has the cash, needs ideas!
(WCN photo of Hicks Lake, 1/7/09)
From Dick Thurnau at Friends of Hicks Lake:
King County has allotted $25,000 in the budget for Lakewood Park / Hicks Lake improvements and has asked Friends Of Hicks Lake for suggestions. We have many; however, we wish to gather input from the community to provide the best and wisest recommendations.
Suggestions (including, so far):
*Water fountain with an aeration system to help cleanse the lake water and display a beautiful attraction. (will need volunteers)
*Walking path around Hicks Lake might require use of a small section of school property (safety reasons)
*Volleyball, basketball court in half of the tennis court, horseshoes
*Full-time caretaker for the park house to control graffiti, litter, illegal alcohol usage, and vandalism
We welcome the community’s input.
You can reach Dick by e-mail at hdthurnau@juno.com or by phone at 206-244-4558.
Tags: Friends of Hicks Lake, Lakewood Park
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January 28th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Well there is already a basketball court above the baseball fields that seems to be part of the Park Lake II housing development. The walking path might be nice but unless it were a paved walkway it would be pretty thrashed twice a year when the lake floods severely. I personally don’t think more pavement would be appealing.
I would think the most important thing to do is to try and revitalize the water quality. The fountain idea could be good but I imagine doing something a little more ecosystem focused.
If the lake water could be pumped back up to a spot behind the tennis courts and into the existing creek which could be modified to become a series of wetland retention ponds we could create a “eco-filter”. Many wetland plants naturally take-up water pollutants and cleanse the water making it more habitable for wildlife and aquatic species. (I imagine additional retention ponds by the upper creek at the tennis courts and one in the greenway in the parking lot. The one between the upper lake and main lake would be kept as is.)
The UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning has students in Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology that could be engaged to help design the system and possibly oversee construction. Many local contractors might be able to donate machinery (and hopefully operators). If the $25k could be used for materials this project would be with-in reason.
I organized a large creek restoration project in north Seattle years ago and was able to get a lot of support from the local community. I’ve been thinking of this idea for Lake hicks for a while and would really love to see it done.
January 31st, 2009 at 7:05 am
Thank you Tom for your input we appreciate your ideas which have a lot of merit and your involvement, we need more people like you.I sent you and E mail with all the details and history previously.With help from you and others we can make this facility into a desired piece of real estate for the community,an image booster and a desired relaxation place for all.
Dick Thurnau