The Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation is very pleased to announce that we have purchased 10 acres next to Strawberry Hill Park for a mountain bike riding course and expanded dog park.
This exciting purchase was made possible by a $1M gift to the Parks Foundation by an anonymous donor. The donation came to us for the express purpose of buying this parcel for mountain bike and dog park use.
We will transfer ownership of the property to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District. The Park District will then plan and build the mountain bike course and manage the parcel as a public park.
The donor had become aware of community division over the proposal to build a mountain bike facility in the Grand Forest and wanted to help alleviate the situation, while conserving land and enhancing dog park uses.
The Park District was working with the mountain bike group and the Parks Foundation to find alternatives to Grand Forest North, and we were able to accept this generous donation and purchase this property when it came on the market.
This property is just west of Strawberry Hill Park and shares a property line with the park. Existing trails and land contours make it a great site for mountain bike use. It’s contiguous with the Strawberry Hill dog park, so the Park District can extend that facility to the west.
A proposal for new mountain biking trails in Grand Forest North has been tabled, the Park District says, and the three Grand Forest properties will be reviewed together through a new master-planning process for trails use.
Making the donation through the Parks Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, gives our donor the tax benefits of a charitable gift.
Thank you to our generous donor, the willing seller and the realtors who helped make this possible. It’s a great win for our parks and our community!