Local Parks grants help protect these symbols of vibrant communities, providing places for families to gather and play and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle in an era when people spend increasing amounts of their time inside. The WWRP is the largest source of local parks funding in Washington, helping communities fund the acquisition, development, and renovation of vital recreation areas and green spaces.
This month’s featured project is the Columbia River Waterfront Park located on the ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and Cowlitz people. The City of Vancouver used this grant to develop the second phase of development of a 7.3-acre park located on the Columbia River in downtown Vancouver, west of the I-5 bridge in Clark County. The project created a vibrant waterfront park for passive and active recreation that provided new public access to the river with a half mile of shoreline. This project is part of the city’s vision to reconnect downtown Vancouver to the Columbia River with an active, recreation-oriented waterfront and re-establish public access that has been blocked for over 100 years. Different viewpoints and overlooks, pathways, festival lawn and gathering areas, an upland sand beach, informal play areas and interpretive displays were created. The Columbia River Renaissance Trail connects Vancouver Waterfront Park to Wintler Park, over 5 miles away. The iconic cable-stayed Grant Street Pier connects the park’s eastern and western halves.
