In a banner year for support, the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation granted $2.28 million for local parks in 2025. The grants were highlighted by the Grand Forest East purchase and the new Strawberry Hill Bike Park.
"Our parks and trails are so full of life, and islanders can take great pride in all that we achieved together this past year," says Mary Meier, Parks & Trails Foundation Executive Director. "Our community inspires great things, and our partnership with the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District makes them happen."
The Foundation gave $1.59 million toward purchase of 39 acres of Grand Forest East from the Bainbridge Island School District, anchored by a major gift made through the Foundation by an island-based private fund to support conservation and schools. The property was transferred to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District in spring, securing its future as part of the 240-acre Grand Forest park and trail network. Our support was part of a successful $2.2 million campaign in partnership with the Bainbridge Island Land Trust.
Strawberry Hill Bike Park opened to acclaim in September, funded by a $480,000 campaign – the Parks & Trails Foundation's second-biggest capital effort behind KidsUp! The Next Generation of Play. This major new park facility has already expanded the island's biking community, with features to challenge riders of all ages and experience.
The Foundation funded the new picnic shelter and intepretive elements at Williams-Olson Park (total: $135,000), and the renovated park on Little Manzanita will be celebrated in spring 2026. Other park support ranged from $55,000 to begin conversion of the Battle Point Park tennis courts for pickleball, and funding for a new pottery bench at the Eagledale Center.
The Foundation supported youth engagement environmental stewardship with a $19,000 grant to the Park District's Student Conservation Corps program, including $10,000 for restoration work at Blakely Harbor Park. These efforts extended the Foundation's longtime commitment to the Blakely Harbor's ecological health, while developing the next generation of environmental stewards through the popular SCOCO program.
Support for new trails totaled $41,000. This included $11,000 to complete the Sunny Hill to Nute's Pond Trail that opened in June, $24,000 for the Summer Trails Crew maintenance program, and $5,600 to update and reprint the Park District's Trails on Bainbridge Island map.
The year's final grant of $5,200 funded a new "Muck Truck" electric wheelbarrow, which entered service for the Park District's trails program in December. The rechargeable, self-powered cart moves volumes of gravel to distant trail locations to fill low spots and keep trails passable in all weather.