Waterfront Park receiving nip and tuck

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, September 27, 2006

POULSBO — By the time the holiday season jingles into Little Norway, Waterfront Park should be ready to greet the throngs of visitors as they await the arrival of the Lucia Bride.

Crews from Fischer General Contracting of Poulsbo began work at the site Sept. 18 to repair the failing bulkhead, add sidewalks and pads for benches, street lights and other amenities to the park.

“Right now, they’re working to get the bulkhead repaired. Then they’ll start working on the sidewalks and other things,” said City Senior Inspector Mike Lund.

The new bulkhead will state “Welcome to Poulsbo” facing Liberty Bay, greeting boaters as they arrive at the city, Lund said, noting that the other improvements should make the park more accessible to visitors.

The project will also tie into the new handicap accessible ramp, which was completed by Eagle Scout Garrett Steele in August, Lund said.

“This is the first phase of the project. The other things will come later,” Lund said.

City Engineer Andrzej Kasiniak said the city’s original plans to completely renovate the park were nixed due to financial reasons.

“We had to scale it back to what we could afford,” Kasiniak said, adding that the rest of the work will be phased in as the city is able to fund it.

“The primary focus, when we whittled down the cost, was getting the seawall in place,” Councilman Mike Regis said.

That focus came after a joint effort with the Port of Poulsbo fell through because of funding problems and concerns raised by the Washington State Department of Fisheries.

“We formed a partnership with the city (in 2002) to go ahead and build the wall, but Fisheries wouldn’t let us dredge (along the bulkhead), so we got out,” said Port of Poulsbo Commissioner Tony DeCarlo.

The port is now helping pay for the “Welcome to Poulsbo” artwork on the wall and will benefit from the slope being stabilized, he said.

However, as the port looks to expand, the float nearest the Kvelstad Pavilion will be removed because it sits on the mud during the minus tide, DeCarlo said. The low tide problem is the result of years of sloughing from Waterfront Park.

All of the work being done will blend into the existing character of the park, but having the bulkhead repaired is the most critical part of the project, Regis said.

With a myriad of holiday activities traditionally taking place at the park, Kasiniak said the hope is that work will be completed by Dec. 1 before Julefest and the holiday shopping season.

“The plan is for completion by the 1st of December, but some of that is weather-dependent,” Kasiniak said.

Regis agreed with Kasiniak’s prediction that the construction would be completed before the holiday season begins.

“They’re on schedule, so I’m hopeful we’ll enjoy an Indian summer, so we can get things done,” Regis said.

Kvelstad Pavilion isn’t part of the first phase of the project, but there is the possibility that local service groups could tackle that as one of their own projects, Lund said.

“We’ve got the plans for it, but it’s up to them if they want to do it,” he said.

Eventually the seating around the pavilion will be benches instead of the concrete pillars that currently surround it, he said.

“It will be amphitheater seating once it’s completed,” Lund said.