Time hasn't been kind to Juanita Beach Park since the area was turned into a popular waterfront hotspot by the Forbes family in the early 1900s.
That was made possible when Lake Washington was lowered by almost 10 feet as part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal project, said Michael Cogle, planning and development manager for Kirkland Parks and Community Services. "When the lake was lowered, lo and behold, there was this wonderful sandy beach exposed," he said.
Lakefront property owners Leslie and Alicia Forbes recognized a golden opportunity when they saw one, and the couple built a bathhouse near the beach with a dance hall on the second floor, Cogle said. And people came from all over the region to rent beachfront cabins during weekends, he added.
Kirkland Deputy Mayor Joan McBride, who grew up in the city, said there also used to be an artists' colony in the area. That was before her time, she said.
But McBride remembers hanging out at the beach when she was a kid, when it was much nicer. These days, walking into the water by the beach involves stepped into a gooey layer of sediment that has built up over the years, she said.
There's also a problem with pollution caused by goose droppings and contaminated runoff from Juanita and Forbes creeks, Cogle noted. "Last summer, King County Public Health forced us to close the beach for about a week," he said.
The Forbes family sold the property to King County in 1956, and county officials gave the park its present name. But naming rights didn't include much tender loving care, according to Marianna Hanefeld, a Courier columnist and a board member of the Juanita Neighborhoods organization. "Let's just say it was on a downward spiral from the time King County had the beach," she said.
Faced with ongoing budget constraints, the county transferred the park to Kirkland in 2002, and in May this year, the city council approved a master plan with a couple additions to an earlier draft that calls for an ambitious effort to restore and improve the 30-acre park.
At an estimated $15 million, it won't be a cheap undertaking. But the cost is worth it, according to Hanefeld, who was one of countless city residents who helped put together a draft master plan for the park. "When you look at all the pieces, it's comprehensive and they're talking about phasing it in," she said.
Among the potential improvements are:
* Building a new bathhouse with restrooms, changing areas, lifeguard-support facilities and outdoor showers. Food concessions are also a possibility;
* Setting up an area for launching hand-carried, non-motorized boats, along with a rental area for non-motorized boats;
* Possibly adding moorage for motorized boats.
* Setting up a non-lighted playfield area that has enough room for two Little League baseball fields.
* Building a large, equipped playground on the south side near the restrooms;
* Installing a paved court for basketball and pickle ball on the south side;
* Maintaining two existing, lighted tennis courts and possibly adding a third;
* Setting up a 7,000- to 10,000-square-foot skateboard park on the north side;
* Adding a park-entry plaza and a community-events plaza;
* Providing numerous picnic tables and two or three picnic shelters;
* Building a lakefront promenade and maintaining the existing walking pier;
* Maintaining the historic Forbes House and adding a garden next to it;
* Making the park ADA-accessible;
* And providing parking at both the north and south sides.
Also under consideration are making changes that would help get rid of the gooey sludge in the water by the beach, according to Cogle. "One of our strategies is to remove the water baffles on the western side of the walking pier," he said. Taking out the underwater barriers would hopefully allow the water to flush out the sediments by the beach, Cogle explained.
Dredging is last resort
"That's a very expensive thing," said McBride, who suggested that perhaps opening up the pier just a little would be enough to do the trick. Dredging the water is mentioned as another possibility in the Master Plan, but she said that would be a step of last resort because of stringent ecological restrictions that apply to making any changes to shorelines.
Sediment contaminated by leaking septic tanks and crumbling stream banks is also carried into the beach waters by Juanita Creek, but the city last year earmarked $500,000 to partially restore the creek, Cogle said.
Canada goose droppings in the water and on the shoreline lawn are generally a minor problem because specially trained dogs are used to chase the critters away from the area, he said. "That works fairly well."
However, also under consideration is planting trees and shrubs between the lawn and the waterfront. Geese, it turns out, like to maintain a straight line of sight from the lawn to the water as they munch on grass, Cogle said. "Hopefully, the geese will not feel quite as comfortable (with vegetation in the way)."
On the flip side, preserving wildlife in nearby Juanita Bay Park is also a factor, one the city council added to the Juanita Beach Park's master plan after the Audubon Society expressed concerns about the issue, McBride said.
The problem is boats disturbing the birds, and it's a problem that may torpedo plans to add moorage for motorized boats in the park, she said. Even non-motorized boats could end up disturbing the wildlife in Juanita Bay, but any steps to prevent that would be based on scientific standards, according to McBride. "We have wildlife experts," she said.
A 2002 park bond measure in Kirkland earmarked $200,000 for Juanita Beach Park, and $125,000 was used to pay for studies and the master-planning process for the park, Cogle said. The balance was used to make some building repairs and restore some of the damaged lawns at the park, he said.
The city also has a modest start in financing the entire project. That includes $1 million in capital funds that can be used as leverage for matching grants in the first phase of the work, which is set to begin in 2008, Cogle said. There was also a separate bond measure that set aside $300,000 for park maintenance, and the city last year approved $500,000 for restoring Forbes Creek which empties into the nearby bay, he said.
Bond measure unlikely
Kirkland officials will also be applying for state and federal funds, but coming up with all the cash needed for the project could take awhile.
A new bond measure seems unlikely, according to Cogle, who noted that - outside of the 2002 one - the last park-bond measure was passed in 1989.
Hanefeld from Juanita Neighborhoods is also a little dubious about the chances of a new park-bond measure. "I think they want their park," she said of neighborhood sentiment, "but are they willing to spend the money? I have no idea."
But there may be pressure to come up with the money if Kirkland's plans to annex Juanita, Finn Hill and Kingsgate are successful, Cogle said. "If Kirkland does complete our annexation, Juanita Beach really becomes a central location."
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or (206) 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
