Heraldnet.com
MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2008 7:57 pm
ADVERTISEMENT

LocalNorthwestNation & WorldPoliticsSpecial ReportsPhotosColumnistsMultimedia 
Blog
Jerry Cornfield
Will striking machinists greet Gregoire in Everett?
Your town news
Julie Muhlstein
Columnist Julie Muhlstein's take on life in Snohomish County.
•Latest: Everett man's legacy will live on in Lynden
Kristi O'Harran
Columnist Kristi O'Harran writes about people in Snohomish County.
•Latest: Four decades of dedication to Woodland Park Zoo
Latest gallery

USS Lincoln in Hawaii
October 1. 2008 (7 photos)
[More Herald photos]
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
Sunday


Recycling a house: Everett home goes to make ne...
A year after plane crash, pain still fresh for ...
Bart knows his fight is tough
Saturday


Will the bailout help?
Comcast Arena -- 5 years later
County to pay $1 million in slaying
Friday


Young couple leave Everett for worldwide trip
1 in 5 Snohomish County mobile homes could be u...
Cascade High class grades the debaters
Thursday


Victims of Snohomish fire sought a fresh start
Craigslist ad linked to Brinks heist in Monroe
County financial report worsens
Wednesday


Fire too fast to save four in Snohomish
Robber may have fled by floating
Assisted suicide foes find ally in Martin Sheen
Tuesday
Congressmen Inslee, Larsen split on bailout bill
Everett man gets 26-year prison term for pimping
Gloomy picture for Snohomish County finances
Monday


Snohomish County budget: what's at stake
2,000 vehicles stolen this year in Snohomish Co...
Lynnwood may ask neighboring areas to join the ...
 

ADVERTISEMENT

Local News   Print This Article  Email This Page  Subscribe Now! facebook digg reddit del.icio.us fark stumble

 
ADVERTISEMENT

 
CONTACT THE HERALD
Robert Frank, City Editor
frank@heraldnet.com
 
Published: Sunday, June 1, 2008

County grants go to playgrounds

The $450,000 from Snohomish County, with additional funding, will build nearly $1 million in sports fields and playgrounds.

There's a shortage of soccer fields in east Snohomish County and things are expected to get tougher with some fields expected to close for repairs this summer.

The brother-and-sister team of Jim and Naomi Johnson are working to turn that around.

The two volunteer with the Sky River Soccer Club, a group among the top recipients of county grant money doled out on Friday.

The club received $75,000 toward a $300,000 project to build a dozen new soccer fields west of Monroe.

The money was part of $450,000 in a new pool of grants announced Friday for 10 groups by County Executive Aaron Reardon.

"It's exciting they're supporting all these projects," said Naomi Johnson, who has been involved in youth soccer for 30 years. "It's been a lot of years since anything has happened in east county. It's nice to see them making us a priority."

About 1,000 kids from the Monroe and Sultan areas play soccer in the Sky River club, Naomi Johnson said.

This is the first year for the county's special YARD grant program for youth and recreation projects. To win a grant, groups had to pledge cash or volunteer hours to match the county's funding.

The $450,000 in county real estate taxes will help build nearly $1 million in sports fields and playgrounds, thanks to matching donations and volunteer time, Reardon said.

It's part of the largest infusion of money into parks in the shortest amount of time in county history, "and without a tax increase," Reardon said. Some of the boost in parks money is coming from King County to offset impacts from the Brightwater sewage treatment plant.

The county is turning a small amount of cash into a whole lot of good, County Councilman Dave Gossett said.

The Johnsons still need another $150,000 for a parking lot for the Monroe soccer field at Fairfield Park, but the county money helps get things started, Jim Johnson said.

"Hopefully, by the end of the month, we'll have seed down and see grass growing," Jim Johnson said.

The county money also is helping to replace broken backstops, benches and an unsafe stairway at baseball fields in Mountlake Terrace.

Forest View Elementary School near Mill Creek will see $65,000 in new playground equipment at the end of October thanks in part to a $24,000 county grant, Principal Brenda Fuglevand said.

A "fun run" is expected to raise the $18,000 needed to finish the project, Fuglevand said.

"If it weren't for the grants, this would have been a three-year project," she said.



Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.

Snohomish County parks projects

Snohomish County gave out $450,000 for 10 park project grants to organizations on Friday. They required either matching cash or volunteer time.

The projects include:

n Forest Crest sports field, Mountlake Terrace

Project cost: $26,650

County grant: $6,663

The Mountlake Terrace Youth Athletic Association plans to upgrade the sports fields.

n Forest View Elementary School, Everett

Project cost: $65,000

County grant: $24,100

The PTA is working to buy and install a playground climbing structure.

n Evergreen Fairgrounds racetrack construction, Monroe

Project cost: $150,000

County grant: $75,000

The Washington Quarter Midget Association is building restrooms, lighting and buildings.

n Terrace Park "Field of Dreams" playground, Mountlake Terrace

Project cost: $100,000

County grant: $15,000

The school district and PTA plan to purchase and install playground equipment.

n Fairfield Park youth athletic fields, Monroe

Project cost: $150,000

County grant: $75,000

The Sky River Soccer Club is preparing a park site for soccer fields.

n Little Cedars Elementary School playground, near Mill Creek

Project cost: $100,640

County grant: $49,640

The PTA plans to purchase and install a playground.

n Mukilteo Little League complex at Paine Field

Project cost: $95,671

County grant: $50,000

Mukilteo North Little League plans to improve the existing baseball-softball complex at Paine Field Community Park.

n Bill Quake Memorial Park fields, Arlington

Project cost: $84,225

County grant: $36,763

The Stilly Valley Little League and Arlington Youth Soccer Club plan to improve the existing soccer field, improve two baseball fields, add a baseball diamond and enlarge the street course at the Arlington Skate Park.

n Sultan Elementary School play field

Project cost: $90,000

County grant: $45,000

The Sultan Elementary School parent-teacher organization plans to install drainage and irrigation systems to play fields at Sultan Elementary School.

n Ropes course at Willis Tucker Park, Snohomish

Project cost: $117,834

County grant: $72,834

The YMCA of Snohomish County plans to install a ropes challenge course.

Source: Snohomish County

1. Recycling a house: Everett home goes to make new memories
2. A year after plane crash, pain still fresh for families
3. McDonalds' deep fryer flares flames in Lynnwood
4. Pumped, preened and primed for the public
5. Driver runs but can't escape trooper
6. Speaking of Paris Hilton ...
7. Everett man's legacy will live on in Lynden
8. Bart knows his fight is tough
9. Cold Case: 'There was no reason' for death
10. Crews respond to power outages
Enterprise Newspaper Snohomish County Business Journal
Cedarcrest's running game, defense stop King's
Shorewood beats Glacier Peak in conference opener
Fernandez named Archbishop boys soccer coach
Team Peggy comes out in force at ALS walk
King's girls poised for threepeat in Pasco
A lifetime together in Lynnwood
The battle over Cascade's student paper
Mill Creek celebrates 25th anniversary
Public hearings scheduled on school closures
The Enterprise Online Newspaper

TODAY'S TOP JOBS
 View All Top Jobs 
Top Cars
Top Homes


ADVERTISEMENT