Three steering committees, several subcommittees, thousands of volunteer hours, many community meetings and plenty of hours working with city representatives later, Magnolia Manor Park is close to realizing the dream it started with: Making Magnolia Manor Park a mixed-use place of beauty, vibrancy and sustainability for all members of the community.
A p-patch was only a glimmer in the eyes of Sustainable Magnolia in the summer before September 2010. As a result of that vision and need, a grant was written to make Magnolia Manor Park a “vibrant community meeting place.”
The city Department of Neighborhoods awarded the community a $20,000 matching grant for the design of a p-patch, provided, at the Department of Parks and Recreation request, the long-awaited and promised Magnolia Dog Park was in the plan.
The steering committee heading up the effort was hesitant, as a dog park was not in its vision. The park area was small, and dog parks and people parks are seldom built in close proximity. The space was tight because much of the park was fenced off to protect an underground reservoir.
But the steering committee decided to hire Site Workshop with grant funds to dream up a workable plan that would bring Magnolia its first dog park and p-patch design.
A real break came when Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) opened up some of the fenced property while still keeping fence around the underground reservoir that was there. This enabled the committee and design firm to consider using more than 2.5 more acres of park. The process and design went through Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Department of Neighborhoods, with heavy community participation.
The final plan called for a 21,000-square-foot dog park (the city had planned for and had funds for the typical 16,000-square-feet, city-sized dog park), a 80- to 100-plot p-patch, connection to the densely populated areas below, a boulder climb, an ADA-accessible walking/bike path, view picnic areas, an amphitheater and a landscaped “front porch” entrance area.
After the design was completed, a second matching grant from the Department of Neighborhoods was awarded, for another $20,000, to the newly formed Friends of Magnolia Manor Park to refine the completed design, prepare cost estimates and building specs.
The dog park on the north side, proved to be a long and arduous planning project, with citizens of the community asking for more space and better design elements and doing fund-raising to make it possible.
Citizens for Off-Leash Areas was determined to make the dog park the best it could be paying close details down to the dog-friendly surfacing.
Since it has opened, it has become a popular meeting place for large dogs and shy dogs (who have a separate area all their own) to run and play. Even rain does not deter heavy use of the park.
From the ground up
The p-patch work began in October, with the moving of the SPU fence to open the sunny south side of the park. It is a process similar to building the pyramids: lots of labor and brick-by-brick.
Carla Kolita, who is in charge of building the plots commented, “Building the p-patch at Magnolia Manor Park is an organic process. Flexibility and cooperation are the two key ingredients. All of us have worked hard and bonded into a community.”
The weekly weekend work parties — going on since the fence was moved — have resulted in retaining walls, lots of hauled wood chips, outlined garden plot areas, laid-down leaf mulch to help amend soil, 1,200 burlap bags to keep soil from erosion and a new, modern-style toolshed.
The plots will have plenty of natural sunshine and are on rich, sandy soil, according to Ray Schutte, past president of P-Patch Trust and a longtime gardener at Interbay P-Patch who was called in to consult on soil amendments.
“That patch has great soil. I fully expect they will have great gardens in full swing this coming summer,” he said. This is not always the case for new p-patches. Some patches need a few years to amend soil and to become really productive.
Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, Mutual Materials and Lowe’s have contributed to the effort by donating or giving price breaks on materials. Umpqua Bank donated $10,000 for the shed materials and has had employees volunteer hours at the work parties.
Susan Casey, chair of Friends of Magnolia Manor Park and veteran gardener at Interbay P-Patch, said of the Magnolia Manor Park P-Patch community, ”It is just amazing what that group of volunteers are doing…. They hit a problem and quickly find a solution — time and time again, no matter what. It is simply amazing to watch.”
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