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“This is a part of who we are when we say we’re Olympians,” Mayor Doug Mah said in a dedication ceremony that was part of a party that went on into the night.
City and state leaders told the story of the landing – from its origins as a 19th century commercial dock for its namesake, Sam Percival, to its reconstruction as a public boardwalk park in the late 1970s. Luminaries included Percival’s descendants and representatives from the Squaxin Island tribe and the Chinese American community, historic inhabitants of the land.
“I think we’re all friends of Percival Landing,” State Rep. Karen Fraser said. “This is a milestone day.”
The mostly on-land waterfront path replaces an old wooden boardwalk that spanned the water and was badly deteriorated by the elements. Part of the wood from the old boardwalk was retained and stretched over land. The project includes two new covered pavilions, a harbor house with rental space and a footbridge crossing a newly-designed cove.
“This is just a project of a lifetime,” said city parks director Linda Oestreich.
More than 200 creosote-contaminated wood pilings were removed from the water and the shorelines restored with native plantings. And wood railings were replaced with metal ones that nearly disappear into the Sound.
Funding for the project came from a variety of sources, including $9.3 million from the city, $3 million from the Legislature, $1 million from a federal grant, $555,660 from the Washington State Heritage Capital Projects Fund and $164,075 from a Washington State ALEA Grant.
“Fortunately, we got some funding for this before we ran out of funding,” Fraser said. “The whole region benefits from this fabulous project.”
The original Percival Landing park’s boardwalk was built in three sections in 1978, 1984 and 1988, and Thursday’s reopening addresses the oldest and most deteriorated section.
City leaders have spent seven years on the project, since a 2004 structural assessment showed more deterioration than expected. The city found 30 of the 588 pilings needed replacement, and since, sections of the landing have been closed, cars were banned on the wood vehicle path off State Avenue, and power was cut off to the public boat docks.
This is the first phase in a three-phase project to replace the landing. Other phases will redo the boardwalk near Fourth Avenue and the Olympia Yacht Club and north toward Port Plaza. The Parks Department associate director has estimated the cost of the remaining two phases at $40 million.
The project got good reviews from the crowd.
Ginger Anderson of Olympia was studying the railing to find the names of five grandchildren. Etched into the metal railing along the path’s edge are hundreds of names, reminders of the people who donated money to the project.
“So far, I really like it,” Anderson said. She volunteers at the nearby senior center every Friday and used to stroll the old boardwalk regularly.
Craig Wallace of Lacey was enjoying the scenery at a destination where he likes to take visitors.
“It’s a lot sturdier than the old one,” he said. “It looks classier. It looks like a real city.”
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869 mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
