|
If you love Tacoma … join us Sept. 23 to celebrate Eastside’s rising community center
Everyone in Tacoma is invited to the First Creek Middle School campus on
Saturday, Sept. 23
, to celebrate the start of construction for the city‘s newest community center. The center is going to bring much-needed services to serve a multi-generational, multi-cultural community, and the event from 2 to 4 p.m. will be the first big opportunity for the public to celebrate the fact that this long-awaited center is now under construction.
When we say “celebration,” we mean it. With the building rising in the background at the corner of East 56
th
Street and Portland Avenue, we’ll have free food for the first 500 people, lots of stage entertainment by local youths, field sports, arts, crafts …
read more here
. We’ll even have student tour guides escort visitors up to a second-story viewing area where you can meet project managers and learn more about the
#ImagineEastside
effort.
|
|
|
Destination Point Defiance
On the other side of Tacoma, a new pedestrian bridge and green space are coming together as part of
Destination Point Defiance. If you stop by the entrance to Point Defiance Park, you can see just how far the bridge has come — and if you move closer to the ferry dock you can glimpse the hillside where new outdoor stairs and slides are going into place (yes, the kind you can slide down). Metro Parks is hoping to open everything in late summer 2018. Stay tuned.
Point Defiance Park roundabout update
We had originally anticipated construction of the roundabout to begin in late summer, with a pause during Zoolights and final work finished in spring. Unexpected construction delays will push the start of construction to January 2018, right after Zoolights. Completion is still anticipated for spring 2018 ahead of the
Pacific Seas Aquarium grand opening.
Gold Medal Finalist
In case you missed it, earlier this year Metro Parks Tacoma was named a
finalist for the National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. Just to be named a finalist is quite an honor – there are only four in each population category – but we’ll learn later this month whether the district earns the top honor.
|
|
|
In a press release we sent in May, Park Board commissioners noted that the district’s partnerships are behind many of Metro Parks’ accomplishments. Andrea Smith, president of the Metro Parks Board of Commissioners, put it this way:
“We work hard to be the best of the best, and we owe so much of our success to supportive citizens and partners who enhance our efforts to serve the community.”
|
|
|
Michael Thompson is
public information manager
of Metro Parks Tacoma. Contact
him at (253) 305-1092 or
|
|
|
Partnerships give youth more sports opportunities: Park Board Notes September 2017
The new school year has begun, which means those of us with kids adjust family routines accordingly.
It’s a constant juggle between responsibilities of work and home life. Parents have a big job providing kids with all of life’s necessities, plus keeping tabs on homework assignments. Added to that is the desire to give children more opportunities to grow through recreational and cultural activities outside of the school day. I am proud of the work that Metro Parks is doing to help in that regard.
A key example is the
Elementary School Sports Leagues
program initiated a year ago with Tacoma Public Schools, the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties, and Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound.
The eight-week seasons begin this month, with weekly practices at 36 Tacoma elementary school sites for children in kindergarten through grade five. It’s not only a way to get kids moving and having fun in competition with friends and neighbors, but also a chance to introduce the value of sportsmanship, teamwork and playing by the rules.
The cost is just $55 per sport, with scholarships for those with financial needs. Holding practices at neighborhood schools should save parents and caregivers time and money.
We launched the program offering four sports – soccer, basketball, flag football and baseball – changing with the seasons. Now with the help of new partners,
First Tee of South Puget Sound
and
Dakine Volleyball Club
, we’ve added golf and volleyball. And, to further enrich the effort, we’ve created
High School Coaching Internships
so teen athletes in Tacoma Public Schools get an opportunity to volunteer while earning academic credit. One of the goals is to give adolescents a leg up on future job and career planning. Even before school started, we enlisted 22 interns.
Also this year, our pre-season workshops for volunteer coaches will include a presentation by Boys & Girls Clubs representatives that will emphasize ways coaches can encourage positive social and emotional growth. Part of it is to introduce kids to the value of teamwork and how individual decisions and actions affect the whole.
Coordination among agencies and institutions is challenging, but worth it. So many aphorisms seem to apply. Yes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, it does take a village to raise a child. Yes, if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.
|
|
|
We’re pleased to support Tacoma Public Schools’ emphasis on the whole child through partnerships such as the Elementary School Sports Leagues. At Metro Parks, we see these collaborative efforts as strengthening the foundation of our mission to sustain the community by offering opportunities to play, learn and grow.
Jessie K. Baines Jr. is serving his first term as an elected member of the Metro Parks Tacoma Board of Commissioners. He spent 30 years participating in youth programs as a player, volunteer and coach.
|
|
|
Jessie K. Baines
Metro Parks
Tacoma
Board
of Commissioners
|
|
|
Capital Improvement Projects
|
|
|
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium earns prestigious accreditation
|
|
People come to see the animals. To view endangered species they might never otherwise encounter. And, yes, to ohh and ahh over majestic Sumatran tigers, adorable sea otters rafting together, massive walruses twirling in what appears to be an underwater ballet, polar bears diving for fish and other animals large and small.
But when the critical, practiced eyes of Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ (AZA) accreditation inspectors visit Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, they see a high degree of animal care provided by passionate zookeepers, veterinarians and other staff; a strong commitment to conservation and scientific research; a staff that routinely engages and inspires visitors to care about the environment; lush and carefully maintained grounds; and much more.
Following an on-site visit in May and an accreditation hearing at the association’s annual meeting in Indianapolis on Sunday, AZA awarded the zoo a new, five-year accreditation.
|
|
|
On Sept. 23, come celebrate construction of the new Eastside Community Center
|
|
Everyone in Tacoma is invited to a community celebration to mark the beginning of construction for Eastside Community Center, a $31 million facility going up on the campus of First Creek Middle School.
The event takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, right across from the construction site on the school’s campus at 1801 E. 56th St.
|
|
|
First hammerhead sharks and eagle rays arrive at Point Defiance Zoo
|
|
Four healthy scalloped hammerhead sharks are darting to and fro in newly constructed, carefully monitored tanks off exhibit at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.
They eagerly vacuum up the chopped squid and fish they’re fed, swimming swiftly in circles as they home in on their dinner.
Next door, two juvenile spotted eagle rays appear more like participants in a water ballet, gently flapping their wings as they swoop in to snare up the manila clams that are their favored food, crunching them up – shells and all.
By this time next year, they will all be swimming in an even larger 250,000 gallon home: the Baja Bay centerpiece of the now-under-construction Pacific Seas Aquarium.
|
|
|
Metro Parks wheelchair basketball coach recruits young players
|
|
The year 2007 marked a milestone in the life of Dave Fouquette. He’d gotten married, moved to Tacoma and embarked on a new career as an occupational therapist, helping others recover and adapt after accidents or injuries.
Busy with family and work, he was also miles away from the competitive wheelchair basketball program he’d nurtured in Seattle for 11 years. Fouquette was coaching 30 young people on three Junior Wheelchair Sonics teams when he decided to quit the gig. It was just too far to go.
Flash forward to 2015. Fouquette was approached by...
|
|
|
Upcoming Events & Public Meetings
|
|
 |
|
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, September 16
Sunday, September 17
Thursday, September 21
Saturday, September 23
Saturday, September 30
Sunday, October 1
Friday, October 6
Saturday, October 7
Sunday, October 8
Wednesday, October 11
Saturday, October 14
Sunday, October 15
Thursday, October 19
Friday, October 20
Saturday, October 21
|
|
|
|
|
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Board of Park Commissioners Meeting
Monday, Sept. 25
Monday, Oct. 9 & 23
6:00 pm
Capital Improvement Committee
Wednesday, Sept. 27
Wednesday, Oct. 11 & 25
5:00 pm
Committee of the Whole
Monday, Sept. 18
Monday, Oct. 16 & 30
5:30 pm
|
|
|
|
|
Metro Parks Tacoma | (253) 305-1000 | metroparkstacoma.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
