MERCERDALE PARK: A Threatened Green Space on Mercer Island
The Great Lawn of Mercerdale Park, looking West towards the Native Plant Garden, is used throughout the year for community events and gatherings.
Mercerdale Park is a 12-acre tract adjacent to the Mercer Island Town Center. The park includes a 2.5 acre “Great Lawn” used for community events and gatherings throughout the year.
Historically, the citizens of Mercer Island have protected Mercerdale Park from construction proposed by our City Council: first in 1985 when the City Council planned to build a Community Center, a Public Plaza, Municipal Offices, a District Court, a Performing and Visual Arts Facility, Parking, a Library and a Fire Station in Mercerdale Park; and, then again, in 1997 when the City Council planned to site a new Fire Station there. Outraged citizens organized, protested and petitioned the City Council; gathered signatures for an initiative; and eventually won the battles to protect our public parkland against these threats.
Yet in 2015, the City Council agreed once again to allow construction in Mercerdale Park—this time, voting to approve a huge, 28,000 square foot building 35 feet high (the equivalent of 3 ½ stories) for use as an arts center. Concerned Citizens for Mercer Island Parks (CCMIP) organized an aggressive campaign of community education and engagement to defeat this project. The City Council finally voted to terminate the project.
Most recently, in the summer of 2020, the City Council voted to construct a Thrift Shop Donation Center in the same corner of Mercerdale Park, spending funds on architectural plans, plus an unknown amount of City staff time, before voting 7-0 to abandon the project in February 2021. What changed their minds? Hearing from hundreds of outraged Islanders who spoke out to protect public parkland from use as a building lot.
Our public parklands, including their historical, cultural, and natural resources, have so far been defended and protected by former generations, as well as by current residents. Our challenge is to protect these resources for our community now and for future generations.
Only by placing all public parkland in a permanent trust can we prevent another land grab effort by future City Councils.