Citizens submit new monikers for 42-acre Swamp Creek Park

After the call went out from Kenmore City Hall late last year, local residents submitted more than 30 potential new names for the 42 acres temporarily dubbed Swamp Creek Park.

City officials have indicated a desire to change the moniker of the parcel to avoid confusion with Wallace Swamp Creek Park. Kenmore took control of the land making up Swamp Creek Park from King County in November.

The new park is situated just south of Northeast 175th Street, between the Burke-Gilman Trail and the Sammamish River, essentially behind the Trail Walk Condominium complex.

For now, the park probably could be described as not much of a park, in need of restoration and even an access path. Kenmore Parks Manager Bill Evans did not return a phone call for this story, but has in the past said the only access to the area is a barely-there, hard-to-find trail off Northeast 175th.

After a March 25 City Council meeting, Mayor David Baker said officials had narrowed down the list of potential new names for Swamp Creek Park to four.

The finalists are: Meanderer Park, Nature Trails Park, Squire’s Landing and Trailwalk Park.

According to City Councilwoman Laurie Sperry, “Meanderer Park” reflects the name of the local indigenous persons who once lived in this area, as well as obviously playing off the verb meaning, basically, to just wander around.

Sperry also said the Squire’s Landing name would honor Watson Squire, an early Kenmore developer who had visions for a local waterfront park in the early 1900s.

Baker said council will ask residents to vote for their favorite from among the final four contenders at various upcoming municipal events, possibly including the opening of Kenmore’s new city hall tentatively set for early May. But while the new park may get a permanent name in the next month or so, any improvements to the property might be further into the future.

Baker said consultant plans put the price tag for improving the park at roughly $12 million. He said Kenmore simply doesn’t have the money at this point.

“There’s no move to go forward right now,” Baker said.

Evans has said the site primarily will be used for passive recreation. According to the city’s Web site, the park master plan calls for trails, interpretive signs, wildlife habitats, limited water access, viewing areas and some support facilities such as restrooms and parking.

More active recreation amenities such as ball fields or picnic areas are not mentioned and apparently not in the works for the property, which Evans said consists of about 75 percent wetlands. According to Evans, King County officials purchased the property in the early 1990s largely with the goal of preserving those wetlands.

In November, the city reported receiving a $100,000 grant to begin restoration of the parkland. At the time, Evans said the dollars will go toward removing non-native and evasive plants such as canary grass and blackberry bushes.

The money comes from a King County conservation grant with a $20,000 match from the city. Evans said that eventually Kenmore may ask for volunteers to help remove any non-native vegetation. He expected the offending plants would be replaced with native greenery sometime in 2011.