Maritime Heritage Park

Association members and concerned neighbors of the Lettered Streets neighborhood came together to discuss possible solutions to the ongoing revitalization and safety concerns at Maritime Heritage Park.

 Lately, safety concerns have progressed at Maritime Heritage Park with the illegal activities and undesirable behaviors taking place between the many drug users and homeless.

 Currently Maritime Heritage Park features an amphitheater, fish hatchery, playing fields, trails, a fountain, and playground. However, these safety concerns have discouraged people from coming to the park, and the Lettered Streets Association members want to take action and bring a change to this issue.

In order to bring this change about, the Lettered Streets Association is proposing a plan in response to what they see as an unwelcoming environment in Maritime Heritage Park.  

This plan would involve cutting down overgrown bushes to open up the area around the fountain and the totem pole area, so that people walking along Holly Street would not have to weave between the homeless people and tents. Public restrooms, which are currently locked up would be re-opened and patrolled. Additional lighting fixtures would also be installed along the park for increased visibility at night.

“It sounds like people really don't feel safe around here, and I wouldn't walk there at night alone,” Jelena Sacharoff, chair of the Letter Streets Association, said.

According to the minutes provided by the Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association meeting, they would like to establish a daytime outdoor recreation program in Maritime Park. Through this program, the need for day and housing treatment for the homeless and those affected by substance abuse and mental illness would be addressed to social services for assistance.

“You can’t lawfully camp in a park in Bellingham, so we will ask them to leave and if they are a chronic problem they could be arrested for being on the property,” Bob Vander Yacht, Bellingham Police Lt. said.  

Everything should be reported, and Vander Yacht instructed all to call litter-control officer, Claudia Vizcarra.

Bellingham City Council representative, Gene Knutson remembers back in 2000 when the park opened, that he had no idea it would turn out to be what it is today with the homeless problem, he said.

“It’s been quite an eye sore,” Knutson said. “The biggest thing I think is to get lighting there.”

Prior action addressing this issue has been brought up by Bellingham Parks and Recreation coordinator Amanda Grove, who is part of the group of park representatives.     

 

Grove, along with Bellingham police officers, and community developments have constructed a proposal of recommendations for revitalizing Maritime Heritage Park.

“We worked on this project and identified what had been done to date to the best of our ability and researched proposals based on infrastructure, security, and programming. There were some infrastructure ideas that discussed things such as the fountain, and preserved safety that was addressed in our document,” said Grove after discussing and gathering the information.

According to the 2013 Maritime Heritage Park Report and Recommendations document, recommendations regarding amenity concepts include building a bocce ball court, skate park, and a 24-hour safe and sanitary public restrooms with a building timeline of 2015-2017.

The document also reads, “Increased recreational opportunities would serve to draw more legitimate park users and potentially decrease illegal or undesired behaviors.”

Additional recommendations range from park design amenity concepts to security enforcement such as cameras, call boxes, and officers patrolling the park area.  

The committee recommends high enforcement at the park by proposing to install one emergency call box near the Environmental Learning Center, have a park ranger program implemented through a partnership between the City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation and Police departments, install additional rules and regulation signage, and install security cameras near the buildings.

This proposal was created in 2013, and was submitted to the mayor’s office for the consideration of funding and implementation resources.

The number of homeless people camping overnight in Maritime Heritage Park has also attributed to the safety problem.

According to the Whatcom County Coalition to End Homelessness 2013 Annul Report, there were 561 homeless persons in Whatcom County.

“We have made some significant difference in reducing homelessness but there is not enough resources to address the needs. We just need to have housing and there isn't enough housing that they can afford,” said Whatcom County Health Department Housing Specialist, Gail DeHoog.

In addressing this issue, Chris Eltrich, vice chair of the Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association said via email that he would also be meeting shortly with the Take Back Birchwood, a committee formed by the Birchwood Neighborhood Association in dealing with the ongoing homeless situations.

In taking action, the next step for the Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association council is to follow through with constructing a written proposal to the city addressing all of their safety concerns and suggested changes.