Category Overview
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.
Project Highlights
This request is to supplement Snohomish County funding for the acquisition of 38.6 acres to be used for development of a sports facility outside the City of Monroe. The targeted property is adjacent to the western edge of a future elementary school site, which shares it’s northern boundary with a City park. The proximity of this facility to these resources will enhance their service as well as provide much needed athletic fields. Within the Monroe area, the need for sports fields is high. There are currently 10 fields within the City park system and a handful of school and private fields. These existing fields are heavily used and the level of demand has resulted in leagues seeking private properties (primarily agricultural) for use. Recently, challenges to zoning enforcement have brought the use of agricultural fields for athletic fields into question. The result to this challenge will likely result in the expulsion of teams from these fields. The proposed acquisition would create a multipurpose facility. It is expected that the size of the acquisition would allow for several events to occur at the same time, maintenance could be easily accommodated and that tournament events could occur. At this time, a commitment from the Sky River Soccer Club has been obtained for utilizing and maintaining the facility. In addition, the adult soccer league has expressed a desire to use the facility and it is foreseen that utilization of the facility will be high due to the demand for fields in this area.