Gifts Archives | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

Parks & Trails Foundation funds 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park with $1.1M gift

Parks & Trails Foundation funds 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park with $1.1M gift

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A $1.1 million grant from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation has funded a 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park.

The grant funds acquisition of the former Comcast property on High School Road by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District.

The lightly wooded property is adjacent to Strawberry Hill Park along its east boundary, making it a natural acquisition to expand the park. A concept planning process for the newly expanded park is now underway.

The Comcast property expands Strawberry Hill Park to 38 acres, following the acquisition of another adjacent 10-acre parcel, the former Hayashida property northwest of the park, in 2022. That property was acquired for the planned Strawberry Hill Bike Park and an expanded dog park.

Strawberry Hill Park has now more than doubled in size, from […]

Parks & Trails Foundation funds 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park with $1.1M giftDouglas2024-04-22T15:58:37-07:00

A new shelter from a classic age at Pritchard Park

A new shelter from a classic age at Pritchard Park

The golden age of design in American parks was, ironically, the Depression.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, a new federal relief program meant to put America back to work, sent 3 million displaced laborers out across the continent to restore and enhance the nation’s public lands. Some were craftsmen, recent immigrants who brought Old World skills and perspectives to the task.

Among the greatest beneficiaries: national parks, where the CCC built countless lodges, cabins, shelters, bridges, stone gateways and walls, dams, sheds, trailhead markers – proud, iconic structures, still admired and enjoyed by visitors today.

Bainbridge Island has a new park feature inspired and informed by the CCC era: a rock-and-timber bench shelter at Pritchard Park. Nestled into the bluff overlooking the mouth of Eagle Harbor and west toward the Seattle skyline – its view, eagle-eye straight to the Space Needle – the rustic shelter is crafted from local materials and wholly at one […]

A new shelter from a classic age at Pritchard ParkDouglas2023-12-14T08:40:31-08:00

Bainbridge Island Review: Mt. bike solution: $1M donation

Bainbridge Island Review: Mt. bike solution: $1M donation

Published in the Bainbridge Island Review, May 20, 2021:

The war of the words is over.

The battle over Grand Forest North between mountain bikers and naturalists has ended in a do-over — thanks to a $1 million anonymous donation.

Nature lovers who wanted to leave Grand Forest North in its pristine natural setting and mountain bike enthusiasts who wanted to build trails there had been fighting a war of words for a few months.

“She was aware of the conversation and wanted to help,” said Dan Hamlin, parks services division director of the Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District.

To help with a solution, she donated $1 million to buy a 10-acre parcel adjacent to Strawberry Hill Park to the west. The only other stipulations made by the anonymous donor is that the nearby dog park be expanded, and it remain a park forever. READ THE STORY

Bainbridge Island Review: Mt. bike solution: $1M donationDouglas2021-12-07T09:40:22-08:00

$1M donation helps Parks Foundation buy mountain biking, dog park property

$1M donation helps Parks Foundation buy mountain biking, dog park property

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 […]

$1M donation helps Parks Foundation buy mountain biking, dog park propertyDouglas2021-05-28T20:31:45-07:00